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In the broker’s blog, OpenHouse NYC gets reports from the front line of New York City’s real estate professionals. In this edition, certified eco-broker Susan Singer is back with some more tips for your kitchen.
More energy-saving tips for the kitchen…
Did you know that your microwave uses two-thirds the energy of a stove (even if it’s gas)? The double-bonus in summer is that they keep the kitchen cooler. Another tip: when you’re using the oven you can lower the temperature by about 25 degrees by using glass and ceramic baking pans rather than metal as they warm up more quickly and retain heat longer. Foods will cook as quickly as in the original recipe. Of course if you’re baking a cake you’ll want to stick with the metal pan.
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In the broker’s blog, OpenHouse NYC gets reports from the front line of New York City’s real estate professionals. In this edition, certified eco-broker Susan Singer talks about your kitchen garden.
Your Kitchen Garden
As temperatures drop we city dwellers can keep a breath of spring close at hand…and fresh herbs to spice up our holiday dishes. A small windowsill garden can provide fresh produce or just add color and aroma to these grey and chilly days. Seeds of Change has a great primer on winter windowsill gardening, emphasizing the importance of light, soil and plant choice. Pick a south or southeast window providing about 5 hours of sunlight daily and be sure it’s draft free. Use a light mixture to plant in either a 6-12” deep planter for multiple herbs or at least a 6” deep pot for individual herbs.
In this partner post from the esteemed real estate blog, Property Grunt, the grunt chats with real estate lawyer Aaron Shmulewitz.
Lien on Me:
Mr. Shmulewitz is partner at Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman. His resume includes representing more than 250 co-op and condo board and his duties include general counsel, building mortgage refinancing and all aspects of corporate representation.
I came across Mr. Shmulewitz when he was featured in the New York Sun article about the rising number of condo fee defaults and he was quite gracious in allowing to be interviewed by me on the subject of condo liens. It is common knowledge in real estate that you need a good lawyer to represent your wants and needs. They can save you a ton of time and money in taking the appropriate measures and avoiding mistakes.
One of the most valuable skills a lawyer can have is to be able to break down legalese into bite size pieces for the layman to consume. You will see that Mr. Shmulewitz clearly demonstrates his mastery of that particular skill set.
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In this week’s partner post from True Gotham, Douglas Heddings flips the script and talks about the distrust brokers feel about consumers.
True Gotham: Why The Real Estate Agent Distrusts The Consumer
There is a reason that the majority of my business has always been representing sellers. Just as the used car salesman reputation of real estate agents doesn’t come from space, so too is true of the “buyers are liars” mantra. Before you go getting all up in arms about what I just said, please hear me out. It is my belief that most of my colleagues are not just better than used car salesman (why they get such a bad rap would be an interesting discussion) but their are exponentially better and truly bring value to the transactions in which they are involved. It’s the minority of agents who are uninformed, dishonest, and generally lack integrity that tarnish the industry reputation. Similarly, most buyers seem to appreciate the value that an excellent agent brings to the mix but unfortunately they seem to have a difficult time finding those excellent agents or they don’t realize it when they have found them. The inability to find an agent that one “clicks with” and trusts is the foundation of the “buyer are liars” mantra that many in my industry live by. This circle of distrust snowballs to a point where, regardless of the competence of the agent, neither the buyer nor the agent trusts what the other is telling them during the course of a transaction. Some examples:
