Published Articles

Reality TV shows make the real estate industry look glamorous, says Martha Gaffney, a licensed real estate broker and strategic real estate advisor at Real Estate Bees. “Even before reality TV shows, many came into the business looking for a quick buck,” she adds. (click for more)

“An extra-full pantry and closet don’t allow a buyer to visualize the space, especially in dark rooms or areas,” says Martha Gaffney, a strategic real estate adviser at Real Estate Bees ( click for more )

How do I get the best deals on outdoor furniture?
You can get the best deals on outdoor furniture by shopping in-store and online sales. Many stores offer significant discounts over Memorial Day weekend. End-of-season sales, along with Labor Day markdowns, often happen in late August or early September. “Best time to buy patio furniture would be at the end of the summer when all sales start to hit,” recommends Martha Gaffney, certified interior decorator and strategic real estate advisor at Real Estate Bees.
If you have a favorite store, it can be worth signing up for emails and texts from it so you can be among the first to know about any upcoming sales. ( click for more )

REAL ESTATE WORDS

Wear and tear is something that happens to all homes, but it should be addressed before putting it on the market. As Martha Gaffney, Strategic Real Estate Advisor at Real Estate Bees, says, homes need constant maintenance. ( click for more )

“Buyers may tend to overlook asking certain questions when they are so enamored of the home,” says Martha Gaffney, a licensed real estate broker based in Pelham, New York, and a strategic real estate advisor at HouseCashin, a home-selling platform. “Only later after inspections, appraisals, and looking at it several times do they realize it’s time to dig further.” ( click for more)

Martha Gaffney, Strategic Real Estate Advisor at Real Estate Bees and a licensed real estate broker notes that virtual tours are very common these days, especially after Covid. But warns: “Please be aware that if you view the home via Facetime, Zoom, or any other virtual tour option and sign a lease, it is final.” She advises that you make it a point to fly in person or pick a broker you know you can trust when doing these video tours. ( click for more )

“Keeping your home in not only a solid state, but also current in time to decor, style and aesthetic makes your home look like new, even if older,” said Martha Gaffney, strategic real estate advisor at Real Estate Bees.

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“Although the most recent report says that the inflation rate is cooling off, most Americans are dealing with their biggest expense: housing. Housing is still yet to cool off. You have rents that are continuously increasing or keeping their current rate higher than normal.

You have interest rates where they were lower last year are higher. And when it comes to home prices, some markets are keeping steady pricing and tighter inventory, which allows for maintaining the current price.

I feel that, at times, the inflation rate is inaccurate as it is in arrears, and in addition to that, to acquire a home right now, it is costing a lot more than it would have, let’s say, last year or the year before, where everything from maintaining it to acquiring energy to gas prices to insurance costs, interest rate, everything is a lot higher.

My take on it is that Americans, as a whole, are still dealing with the brunt of higher costs of overall living and a slower pace of income growth.”

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Martha Gaffney, Licensed Real Estate Broker and Strategic Real Estate Advisor at HouseCashin, gives her thoughts on the current housing market.

Martha’s Thoughts:

“Many Americans have been priced out of the current market when it comes to purchasing a home or their first time home, due to the fact that prices of home keep increasing, even though they have slowed down some, there is still quite the demand. I think that builders can jump in and help out by increasing more affordable housing and also private lenders come up with creative ways of them making money and offering interest rates that are attractive enough to buyers as well as their realtors.”

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Whether you’re buying a house but don’t want to break your rental agreement early, or moving in with a friend to save money but still need someone to pay the rent on your old place, there are plenty of reasons to sublet your apartment.

However, subletting can be difficult to pull off smoothly, as you have to navigate areas like your own housing needs, the housing needs of others, and your landlord’s requirements.

Ideally, you can inform yourself of these issues ahead of time or early in the process to try to find solutions before you face a time crunch. But if you’re already in the middle of the process, it can still help to know some of the challenges you might face.

Some of the more common subletting pitfalls, according to Martha Gaffney, strategic real estate advisor at HouseCashin, include the following. click for more

Inconvenient conditions of sale

Conditions of sale—especially the sale being contingent on the seller finding adequate housing—can be a major turnoff for potential homebuyers, according to Martha Gaffney, a licensed real estate broker and strategic real estate advisor at Real Estate Bees. "Buyers may not want to risk the time waiting for a seller to find housing," she says. To avoid the risk of losing a great offer, Gaffney recommends that sellers come up with alternative housing options well in advance of a potential sale. Click here for more