Category : Residential

More than half of the brokers working in New York City believe the housing market will get worse before it gets better. And 85% said the recession has negatively impacted their personal situation, one even claiming it caused her divorce. The findings are the result of a survey of 200 brokers working in New York City by Entitle Direct, the parent company of EnTitle Insurance Company, a direct-to-consumer title insurance service.

By Liana Grey Several years ago, retailers began inserting electronic billboards into video games. Sony has an advertisement in the virtual world Second Life, and the Adidas logo is splashed across a soccer stadium in the game FIFA. Last winter, Century21 applied a similar strategy to real estate marketing and tapped into mobile gaming — a move that earned the firm’s chief marketing officer, Bev Thorne, a Stevie Award for Women in Business several weeks ago.

As she does at the start of every holiday season, Neila Deen, director of sales and business development at RealDirect, recently sent out an email blast to clients reminding them to tone down their Christmas and Hanukkah decorations. “I tell sellers to keep them simple, elegant, and to a minimum,” she said. “Even a simple thing, such as a child’s snowflake cutout on the window, shouldn’t be there. You want to let light in, and show the view.” Few sellers list their apartments in December, and many remove their homes from the market between Thanksgiving and New Year. But for those who do, overdoing the decorations can derail a sale …

Prudential Douglas Elliman has appointed Stephen Kotler as its new Chief Operating Officer. Kotler brings over 25 years of industry experience to this new role and has most recently served as executive vice president and managing director of business development at the firm. “Stephen has been a dedicated and invaluable member of the Elliman family for twenty years--his accomplishments speak for themselves,” said Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman. “He has played an instrumental role with our vital new initiatives at Douglas Elliman, including the re-design of our corporate website and our strategic international expansion. I am thrilled to welcome him on to our executive leadership team.”