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.
The Westchester housing market started off 2017 with a flourish, with sales up and prices showing meaningful signs of appreciation after a slow 2016. Sales. Home sales were strong through the first quarter. Single-family home sales were up over 6%, the tenth straight quarter of year-on-year sales increases. And the 6,266 transactions over the rolling year was the highest 12-month total since the second quarter of 2005, and marks an 87% increase off the bottom of the market at the […]
Read MoreThe regional housing market in Westchester and the Hudson Valley started to show the first signs of meaningful price appreciation in the first quarter of 2017, with prices up in most of the counties. Moreover, with inventory rates dropping, we expect this trend to continue through a robust Spring market and for the rest of 2017. Inventory throughout the region continues to drop. Regional inventory fell almost 26%, and is now down to 6.3 months–right at the level that the […]
Read MoreRight now is a really great time to be buying a home in Northern New Jersey Man, do I hate saying that. As I’ve explained before, I hate the phrase “great time to buy,” for a couple of reasons. First, people have different needs, and a market that’s great for one person might be terrible for another person. Second, while markets tend to move together, we do see micro-markets (i.e., towns and villages) that defy larger trends. So while it […]
Read MoreRight now is a really great time to be buying a home in Westchester or the Hudson Valley. Man, do I hate saying that. As I’ve explained before, I hate the phrase “great time to buy” for a couple of reasons. First, people have different needs, and a market that’s great for one person might be terrible for another person. Second, while markets tend to move together, we do see micro-markets (i.e., towns and villages) that defy larger trends. So […]
Read MoreRight now is a really great time to be buying a home in Northern New Jersey Man, do I hate saying that. As I’ve explained before, I hate the phrase “great time to buy,” for a couple of reasons. First, people have different needs, and a market that’s great for one person might be terrible for another person. Second, while markets tend to move together, we do see micro-markets (i.e., towns and villages) that defy larger trends. So while it might be […]
Read MoreRight now is a really great time to be buying a home in Westchester or the Hudson Valley. Man, do I hate saying that. As I’ve explained before, I hate the phrase “great time to buy” for a couple of reasons. First, people have different needs, and a market that’s great for one person might be terrible for another person. Second, while markets tend to move together, we do see micro-markets (i.e., towns and villages) that defy larger trends. So […]
Read MoreThe Sussex County housing market surged yet again in the fourth quarter of 2016, with sales up sharply and an eyeopening spike in prices. Sales. Sussex sales were up again in the fourth quarter, rising over 18% from the fourth quarter of last year. And for the year, sales increased almost 19%, finishing 2016 with the highest yearly transactional total in over 10 years, since the height of the last seller’s market. Indeed, Sussex sales are now up 113% from […]
Read MoreThe Essex County housing market finished the year with a surge in sales, but these sustained increases in buyer demand have not had their expected impact in driving price appreciation. Sales. Essex sales activity recovered from a disappointing third quarter, with sales rising almost 11% from the fourth quarter of last year and finishing the calendar year up almost 5%. Buyer demand has been inconsistent throughout the year, certainly not as strong as we are seeing in neighboring Northern New […]
Read MoreThe Morris County housing market finished the year with a sharp increase in sales, but sustained buyer demand throughout 2016 still has not had a significant impact on pricing. Sales. Morris County sales were up significantly, rising almost 12% from the fourth quarter of last year. This continued a streak in which year-on-year sales have now gone up for nine straight quarters, over two years of sustained buyer demand. Transactions were also up 12% for the year, and are now […]
Read MoreSales in the Passaic County housing market rose again in the fourth quarter of 2016, but they are still not having their expected impact on pricing Sales. Passaic sales finished the year strong, rising almost 14% from last year’s fourth quarter and finishing the year up over 12%. We’ve now seen sustained increases in buyer demand for over five years, with quarterly sales up in 20 out of the last 22 quarters. As a result, Passaic closed almost 3,300 homes […]
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