Sometimes life has a funny way of turning you into something that you never thought that you would be...your parents! How many times did your parents tell you something for your own good? Did you listen to what they had to say, or did you roll your eyes and moan? In retrospect, and as a parent, it's clear that while my parents weren't always right, they did have knowledge that could have helped me if I had chosen to listen to it. As a parent, you inevitably end up saying a lot of the same things that your parents said to you. Today was just such an occasion.
For some reason, my son seems to think that running mundane errands with me is somehow going to be fun or exciting. While I do my best to make it entertaining, sometimes it's just the same old routine. This was a busy day, so there wasn't going to be time for a lot of goofing around.
First it was off to the library to return some videos. No time to look for new ones, since Friday is football practice day. Then it was off to the bank to deposit a commission check (always a good thing). My son knows that he can at least get some candy out of the deal because Commerce Bank always has a plethora of red lollipops, so he's always happy to go to what he calls the "Red C Bank."
The last stop was at the post office, and this is where the lesson was learned. Over the course of time, my son developed a routine whenever we go to the post office to pick up mail from the P.O. Box. The day is not complete until he checks the stamp machine for loose change that was left in the coin return slot. Today was one of the lucky days. Two pennies were sitting there for the taking. You should have seen the look on his face. You would have thought that he'd been successful panning for gold!
While I was at the counter mailing out a package, he asked me if he could put the money into the coin slot of the stamp machine. I told him that he's going to lose it, and that I wouldn't do it. He insisted that he could get it back by hitting the coin return button. Again, I told him that he's going to lose the money if he put it back in the machine. After a little more badgering, I gave the standard answer that my parents used to give me... "Do what you want!" Well he did, and guess what happened. That's right, the coins didn't come back.
As we walked to the car, he was in tears over the money that he lost. I told him that there was nothing that I could do about it, and that he was warned several times not to put the money into the machine. He asked if I could give him money when we got home to replace the money that he lost. I told him that he didn't have the money when he got to the post office, and that he lost the money because he refused to listen.
The easy solution would have been to replace the two pennies, but I thought that it was more important to teach him a lesson while the cost was insignificant. I asked (in my best parental voice) "What did I say was going to happen if you put the money back into the machine?" The reluctant response was "You said that it would get lost." I then asked, "So what happened?" Again, in an almost mumbling, clearly fed up voice, he uttered "The money got lost." Staying in full parent mode, I then asked "Do you know how this could have been avoided?" An exasperated response followed "If I would have listened to you." I concluded with "What lesson did you learn today?" He said, "that I should have listened to you." That's all that I wanted to hear.
I explained to my son that I tell him things that he may not want to hear for his own good, and that I know more because I've experienced more, and that someday he will know more than his kids and he can share his experience with them. It seems to be a rite of passage to use the lines on our children that were used on us.
Parents and children will always see things differently, but getting the chance to teach a valuable lesson for the cost of 2 cents that we didn't have to begin with was truly priceless in my eyes. If this lesson got through to him, it would be more than enough. But I got to thinking how this lesson could be applied to real estate as well. After all, it can't hurt to get as much value as possible out of the two lost pennies.
How often do we find "two pennies" (potential customers and clients) and put them back in "the machine" (other REALTORS®) by not following up with them in a timely manner or deciding not to work with them because we don't think that it will be worth our time? Many times the potential customer may not appear to be anything special, but that's not always the case, which reminded me of a story that I heard recently.
A man walked into a fancy office in the Hamptons on Long Island looking a bit disheveled, and not at all like the rest of the well-to-do clientele that usually walks in the door. Because of his appearance, most of the veteran agents passed him by because they didn't want to "waste" an up call. Eventually, a newer agent without anything to lose, graciously spoke to the man to find out what he was looking for. It turned out that he was the owner of a major carpet chain, and that he was interested in buying a summer home, but there was one catch...The price could not exceed $10 million! You can probably still hear the loud THUD of jaws hitting the desks as the agents that passed him over realized that they just lost out on their share of a $300K commission.
The moral of the story is two-fold. Parents have insight that children don't, and that it is usually not fully realized until children become parents themselves, and that things are not always as they appear on the surface. As REALTORS®, we should qualify the person not our perception of the person.
For many Long Islanders, Halloween is about candy and mischief. Then there are those that really want to immerse themselves in this spooky holiday. What better way to do so then to visit some of Long Island's scariest haunted houses. After stumbling upon the website 
North Babylon Fire Company Haunted House
Summer is a favorite season to many, particularly on Long Island because there is so much to do. However, if you aren't a big fan of the heat, summer can also be a season that makes you long for cooler days. There's nothing like the feeling of the natural, cool, crisp breeze coming through your windows on an autumn evening, especially after months of artificially cool air.
The Fall Farm Festival (10/27 & 10/28) - 
Apple Picking - If you're looking for a unique apple picking experience, you should check out 
In 
EXAMPLE # 1 - Caffe Baci (1636 Old Country Road, between Post Avenue & S. Fulton St., Westbury, NY, 516-832-8888)
Many restaurants on Long Island have good service, but I have yet to experience as staff as attentive as the Caffe Baci waiters and waitresses. When you walk in you are warmly greeted and lead to your table. Within moments, one of the friendly wait staff comes by to take your drink order and talk about the specials. Like clockwork, the delicious bread arrives at the table with glasses of ice water. It would appear that each table had its own watchdog, as the glass never runs dry and the bread baskets are refilled without ever having to ask.
Before you know it, your food arrives, and if you weren't convinced yet that Caffe Baci is one of the best restaurants around, you will be with the first bite of your entrée. The wait staff checks back on you regularly to make sure that your needs are tended to, but they never give you the feeling that you are being rushed out the door to make room for someone else. You really feel like they want you to enjoy every moment that you spend in their restaurant. 
EXAMPLE # 2 - Lord & Taylor (
Let me start by saying that there are very few places on earth that I'd rather be than a department store around the holidays. Throw in the fact that this particular store is located in the heart of Manhattan, and it's reasonable to expect that this was not going to be fun. However, Lord and Taylor strives to be a different kind of department store, and it shows!
It was the holiday season of 2000. My wife and I had been married earlier in the year, and she wanted to commemorate it with a collectable bride and groom from Lenox with the year (2000) displayed on the base. After visiting other stores, and not finding this item, I decided to try Lord & Taylor. I searched on my own for a while and couldn't find the piece. It was late in the season, and other places had sold out, so I thought that this was probably the case in Lord & Taylor as well. 
The fact that there were three examples of terrible customer service and only two of outstanding customer service was not planned. It just happened that way. Unfortunately, I would say that we're pretty far away from even achieving this ratio in the real estate profession. 
Have you ever dealt with a company that has such terrible customer service that you wonder how they ever got the business launched? How is it that some companies strive so hard to please the customer, while other companies seem to do everything in their power to make it difficult to do business with them? With the amount of competition in the business world, it's mind-boggling that every company wouldn't do whatever they could to retain customers at the very least, and ideally create referral business whenever possible. 
The location of this station goes along way towards keeping this particular station in business. It is one of those stations that also has a Dunkin' Donuts, Subway, and mini-mart all self-contained. For some reason, you have to wait on line to use each vendor. If they were all truly separate, it would be understandable, but they are only selectively separate.
You would think that a company that's business was new technology would go out of its way to retain its early adopters. This is not at all the case. To use this technology, you need a special router which contains your phone number. These routers are given out when you sign up for this service, however, should it ever stop working, the company then expects you to purchase the router, but does nothing to help you to do so. I was told to go find it in a retail store and then call back by the overseas customer service representative that had more than a little trouble communicating with me.
Clearly, I wasn't the only one that had problems with this company. Shortly after my issue was resolved, Vonage was sued by Verizon for patent infringement and lost. The penalty was $58 million in addition to 5.5% royalty on all future sales. If you would like more confirmation about this company, please check out where the following web address takes you and you'll how low this company actually set the bar (
This company is one a few companies that are known for the installation of retractable awnings on Long Island. When we had a problem with the awning that was attached to our home at the time of purchase, we called the company that was listed on the awning. At first glance, we thought that it was a big company, but we found out later on that it was actually a local, family-owned company.
A few weeks went by, and we heard nothing from Awning Star. Our credit card company told us that the company had 30 days to rectify the situation, or else the credit would become permanent. Another week went by and we received two calls in the same day leaving two different messages from Awning Star.
If you were shipwrecked on a deserted island, got rescued, and just returned to the United States, you could surmise that people no longer buy or sell homes in America. After all, the media portrayal of the housing industry doesn't leave much room for hope. Each day, the news stations, print media and many online sites focus on the "housing bubble" or the "market declining." It's no wonder that people are somewhat hesitant to make a decision.
What is never mentioned is that in the information age that we are living in, (with so many different mediums fighting for the collective attention of the masses), is that the media relies on sensationalism to garner attention, particularly when it comes to issues surrounding finance. The media often times plays into irrational exuberance when markets are rising, and doom and gloom when markets are declining, because there is no "sizzle" in neutrality.
Real estate trends always have been, and always will be, determined by local markets, and therein lies the problem with the way that the media portrays the overall market. All of the factors of the market are inextricably linked for better or for worse, but that doesn't mean that every single market reacts the same way to each factor.
There is definitely an issue with the sub-prime market that has affected the overall mortgage market, but some areas are much more affected than others. Sub-prime mortgages have traditionally been used by borrowers that have little or no down payment and blemishes in their credit history. These buyers tend to buy in lower income housing areas, so those areas are more likely to directly feel the impact of the sub-prime fallout, whereas more expensive areas don't.
The point is that each market is unique in its own way, and deserves to be treated as such. Many of the markets that are in steep decline are in that position as a result of speculators artificially inflating prices with no intention of ever moving into the home, or more likely, the luxury condo that they bought with the sole intention of flipping it to someone else. Understandably, the meteoric rise of certain markets was met with a precipitous fall when the markets shifted.
Buyers and sellers, please note that you can easily obtain the facts and figures that define your local market trends by contacting a REALTOR® in your market. If don't have a relationship with a trusted real estate professional, I would strongly suggest finding one on 
This weekend is homecoming weekend for Hauppauge High School. On Saturday, October 20, 2007, the Eagles will take on Eastport - South Manor in the annual homecoming football game at 5:00pm, which will be followed by a Grucci fireworks display. There will be a parade preceding the game starting at 3:30pm. As part of the homecoming weekend, all HYO (Hauppauge Youth Organization) football teams are invited to march in the parade.