The Rand NewsReal

Joe Rand, our Editor-in-Chief and lead contributor is the Chief Creative Officer at Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty.

He is the founder of the “Client-Oriented Real Estate” (“CORE”) school of real estate education, based on the idea that real estate agents should build their business by learning how to be great at the job of helping clients buy and sell homes.

He has been a featured speaker and moderator at Real Estate Connect, the RIS Media CEO Conference, the Women’s Council of REALTORS Annual Conference, and many other industry events.

He is a regular contributor to Inman Media, writing about industry issues mostly relating to agent education and client service.

He is a graduate of Georgetown University, Georgetown Law Center, Stanford Law School, and a former law professor at Brooklyn Law School and Fordham Law School.

He lives in Nyack, New York with his wife and two children.

How Much Are My Home Improvements Worth? The 2020 Cost v. Value Report is Out.

One of the biggest mistakes sellers make in pricing their home is assuming that they will get at least 100 cents on every dollar they put into that home since they bought it: “Well, I bought it for $450,000 ten years ago, and I put in a new kitchen for $50,000, so it’s worth at […]
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Matt Rand Joe Rand Dan Rand

Rands Featured in 2020 Swanepoel Power 200

NANUET, NY – Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Rand Realty is pleased to announce that their leadership team – Matthew, Joseph, and Daniel Rand have been named to the Swanepoel Power 200, an independent ranking of the most powerful residential real estate leaders in the United States. The SP200 (Swanepoel Power 200) is […]
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Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – New York Overview

  The housing market in Westchester and the Hudson Valley closed the year with a flourish, with regional sales and prices up modestly but meaningfully. The market overall continued to show signs of recovery from the suppressive effects of the 2018 Tax Reform’s Cap on State and Local Taxes (i.e., the “SALT Cap”). Although we […]
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Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Westchester County, New York

  In the fourth quarter of 2019, the Westchester housing market continued to recover from the impact of the 2018 Tax Reform cap on state and local taxes (i.e., the “SALT Cap”). Single-family home sales were up almost 4%, the second quarterly increase in a row following seven straight declines after the SALT Cap went […]
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Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Rockland County, New York

  Activity in the Rockland housing market surged in the fourth quarter of 2019, even while the 2018 Tax Reform cap on state and local taxes (i.e., the “SALT Cap”) continued to suppress pricing growth. Single-family transactions rose over 7% for the quarter, and almost 6% for the full calendar year, reflecting high levels of […]
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Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Orange County, New York

  Pricing in the Orange County housing market surged in the fourth quarter of 2019, even while low levels of inventory continued to stifle sales growth. Pricing was up across the board, with single-family home prices rising over 8% on average and almost 9% at the median compared to last year’s fourth quarter. And for […]
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Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Dutchess County, New York

  The Dutchess county housing market surged again in the fourth quarter of 2019, closing a robust 2019 with a flourish. Sales activity was way up, with single-family home sales up almost 20% from last year’s fourth quarter, which made up for a lackluster start to 2019 – as you can see, even with the […]
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Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Putnam County, New York

  The Putnam housing market corrected a bit in a slow fourth quarter, after surges through much of the year. Single-family home sales were down about 3% for the quarter, with prices falling over 4% on average and almost 7% at the median. For the 2019 calendar year, though, Putnam’s market generally grew, with sales […]
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Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Bronx County, New York

  The Bronx housing market slowed down just a bit in the fourth quarter of 2019,  with sales falling slightly and prices topping out after a robust run-up for most of the year. We believe that, like other high-priced markets throughout the region, the Bronx might be feeling the impact of the 2018 Tax Reform’s […]
Read More

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How Much Are My Home Improvements Worth? The 2020 Cost v. Value Report is Out.

One of the biggest mistakes sellers make in pricing their home is assuming that they will get at least 100 cents on every dollar they put into that home since they bought it: “Well, I bought it for $450,000 ten years ago, and I put in a new kitchen for $50,000, so it’s worth at least $500,000.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. You almost never get 100 cents, or even 75 cents, on every dollar you spend. Why? Well, […]

Read More

Rands Featured in 2020 Swanepoel Power 200

NANUET, NY – Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Rand Realty is pleased to announce that their leadership team – Matthew, Joseph, and Daniel Rand have been named to the Swanepoel Power 200, an independent ranking of the most powerful residential real estate leaders in the United States. The SP200 (Swanepoel Power 200) is the definitive ranking of residential real estate’s top leaders produced by industry visionary Stefan Swanepoel’s T3 Consulting Group and published by the Real Estate Almanac […]

Read More

Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – New York Overview

  The housing market in Westchester and the Hudson Valley closed the year with a flourish, with regional sales and prices up modestly but meaningfully. The market overall continued to show signs of recovery from the suppressive effects of the 2018 Tax Reform’s Cap on State and Local Taxes (i.e., the “SALT Cap”). Although we are still seeing more demand in the lower-priced than upper-priced markets, the overall trend suggests continued growth in 2020. Single-family sales were up regionally and […]

Read More

Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Westchester County, New York

  In the fourth quarter of 2019, the Westchester housing market continued to recover from the impact of the 2018 Tax Reform cap on state and local taxes (i.e., the “SALT Cap”). Single-family home sales were up almost 4%, the second quarterly increase in a row following seven straight declines after the SALT Cap went into effect. And prices were up as well, rising almost 3% on average and over 2% at the median. For the calendar year, Westchester’s single-family […]

Read More

Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Rockland County, New York

  Activity in the Rockland housing market surged in the fourth quarter of 2019, even while the 2018 Tax Reform cap on state and local taxes (i.e., the “SALT Cap”) continued to suppress pricing growth. Single-family transactions rose over 7% for the quarter, and almost 6% for the full calendar year, reflecting high levels of demand spurred by strong economic fundamentals. But the SALT Cap has suppressed demand in the higher-ends of the market, which has held back pricing for […]

Read More

Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Orange County, New York

  Pricing in the Orange County housing market surged in the fourth quarter of 2019, even while low levels of inventory continued to stifle sales growth. Pricing was up across the board, with single-family home prices rising over 8% on average and almost 9% at the median compared to last year’s fourth quarter. And for the full 2019 year, single-family prices were up 3% on average and almost 5% in the median. Condo prices were also generally up, rising 5% […]

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Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Dutchess County, New York

  The Dutchess county housing market surged again in the fourth quarter of 2019, closing a robust 2019 with a flourish. Sales activity was way up, with single-family home sales up almost 20% from last year’s fourth quarter, which made up for a lackluster start to 2019 – as you can see, even with the fourth-quarter surge, sales for the full year were basically flat. Quarterly sales were also up almost 13% for condos, finishing the year up almost 7%. […]

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Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Putnam County, New York

  The Putnam housing market corrected a bit in a slow fourth quarter, after surges through much of the year. Single-family home sales were down about 3% for the quarter, with prices falling over 4% on average and almost 7% at the median. For the 2019 calendar year, though, Putnam’s market generally grew, with sales up over 2% from 2018. Full-year prices were more mixed, with the average falling almost 2% and the median rising almost 3%. We believe that […]

Read More

Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Bronx County, New York

  The Bronx housing market slowed down just a bit in the fourth quarter of 2019,  with sales falling slightly and prices topping out after a robust run-up for most of the year. We believe that, like other high-priced markets throughout the region, the Bronx might be feeling the impact of the 2018 Tax Reform’s Cap on State and Local Taxes (i.e., the “SALT Cap”), particularly in the higher end of the market. Even with the suppressive effects of the […]

Read More

Fourth Quarter 2019: Real Estate Market Report – Northern New Jersey

  The Northern New Jersey housing market finished 2019 with a bit of a flourish, with sales and price increases in most of the county markets. We are still seeing some negative impact from the 2018 Tax Reform cap on state and local tax deductions (i.e., the “SALT Cap”), but outside of Hudson County, most of the suburban markets seem to be pricing in the partial loss of property tax deductibility. Going forward, we believe that strong housing fundamentals will […]

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