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Haunted Homes: Krissy Many’s Story
Krissy Many’s Chilling Experience
Krissy Many is often asked if she has ever experienced a haunted house throughout her many years of real estate.
While Krissy believes that houses have feelings and different energies, there have been some that stand out more than others. On occasion, she has visited homes that felt so heavy she couldn’t wait for an excuse to leave; One of these experiences she shares today.
A few years ago Krissy got a request to show a new property to one of her clients. Just by looking at it, Krissy didn’t notice anything unordinary about the house. It was a flipped home that had recently been renovated and was now sitting vacant. To avoid tracking dirt through the newly finished home, Krissy and her client removed their shoes at the front door. When they started their tour Krissy took note of the minimal staging. The only furniture in the home was a kitchen table where plates, silverware, glasses, and cloth napkins were all neatly placed. It looked as if the home was waiting for a family to sit down for dinner.
As they concluded the viewing Krissy and her client returned to the front door for their shoes. While they were putting on their shoes, making small talk, a noise made both Krissy and her client freeze. They heard the clanking of dishes and the sound of silverware on glass! Krissy glanced at her client as they hesitantly made their way back to the kitchen. Alone in the home, they couldn’t think of anything which could have been making all that noise.
Upon entering the kitchen, a shiver went down her spine; one of the place settings was now amiss. The napkin had been unfolded and the silverware, that had been so neatly placed on the table, now rested on the plate. It was almost as if she and her client had interrupted someone in the middle of their lunch. With no desire to experience any more hauntings for that day, Krissy and her client quickly made their way out of the home.
Krissy isn’t alone in these experiences. She has had clients tell her about spirits that have followed them home. These clients have experienced many unexplainable events like exploding candle jars and flickering lights. While viewings can leave an impression it may not always be in a good way.
Meet Renee Williams
Renée Williams is bringing her expertise to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Green Team!
Renée began her career as a political analyst in London’s Parliament. Following that she spent nearly a decade in Private Equity as a Financial Analyst. She worked in Midtown, Manhattan, at a global real estate-oriented merchant bank, asset management, and investment company. This company was the industry leader in distressed and value-focused real estate investing. This position earned her unrivaled experience across the real estate industry.
At the end of 2019, Renée relinquished her role at C-III Capital Partners to devote more time to social impact matters. Following this, she became a part of a minority-led, technology and social impact company in SoHo, New York. Providing top millennial, corporate professionals access to philanthropic, board leadership opportunities within well-known nonprofits and foundations. While a part of this company Renée led Corporate Relations, Diversity Training, and Partnership Engagement.
An expert in her field
Renée now works as a licensed real estate advisor. With extensive experience across mixed-use commercial and residential real estate. Additionally, she has firsthand property development and interior design experience. Thanks to her nearly 10-year career in private equity investment real estate she has lots to bring to the table as a real estate advisor.
“I enjoy all the different aspects of real estate and it doesn’t feel like work.” Say’s Renée when asked about her experience as an agent.
Additionally Renée is a Political Science Graduate of Boston University and Foreign Language Studies at London School of Economics. She is also an active member of the prestigious Alumni Society. This elite network is composed of senior-level Latinx leaders who graduated from the country’s top universities.
Making a house into a home
Four years ago Renée and her husband made the decision to leave Brooklyn and to relocate to the Hudson Valley. While house hunting in Greenwood Lake, they found a hidden gem in the form of a small lakefront bungalow. This home had recently gone into foreclosure and was in desperate need of some TLC. Thankfully Renée and her husband had a vision and were ready to make it a reality. After some hard work, they had completely transformed this property. They were now proud owners of an idyllic, three-story, contemporary-modern, designer lakefront home.
Renée’s dedication to her community
Now Renée is a proud member of the Warwick Valley Rotary Club and recent graduate of Leadership Orange Class of 2022. She is happy to go above and beyond for her community and serves monthly at the Greenwood Lake Food Pantry. Furthermore, she is honored to sit as the Chairwoman of the Rumshock Veterans Foundation.
As a former nationally ranked Rhythmic Gymnast and New England Patriots Cheerleader, Renée enjoys an active life. She can often be found on new adventures and traveling with her husband and two young children.
A new team to call her own
When it came time for Renée to leave her previous brokerage she wanted to find a group that would help her achieve her goals. When she met with us at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Green Team she could tell she found her new “home”. With our entire team ready to support her every step of the way she was ready to begin her newest adventure.
When asked why she picked Green Team she said: ” I chose to make a move because I feel that at BHGRE Green Team I would receive support. I also knew that they would truly focus on my success and help me to achieve my goals. That kind of support and personal touch is difficult to find in this industry.”.”
We are so happy to welcome Renée to our team and can’t wait to see all her future accomplishments.
Green Team Celebrates our affiliation with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.
Celebrating Our New Team!
After 17 years of being an independent agency, Green Team Realty made the decision to affiliate with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. This was a huge opportunity for us to expand our horizons and take advantage of everything this amazing company has to offer. The marketing tools, as well as the special training that they provide to our agents, are hard to beat. Additionally, these tools will also help to make the real estate process all the better for our clients.
After such an exciting change we wanted to take some time to celebrate joining this fantastic company. To do so we decided to host ribbon-cutting ceremonies at both our New York and New Jersey offices.
Our Warwick offices ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by numerous members of the community as well as many of our agents and administrative team. Mayor Newhard, Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton, Assemblyman Karl Brabanec, and Executive Director of the Chamber Stefanie Keegan all came out to show their support.
Afterward, at our Vernon offices ceremony, we were joined by Mayor Howard, The Vernon Chamber of Commerce, our administrative team, and many of our sales associates. While there our CEO Geoffery Green, made a wonderful champaign toast to our new affiliation and the future of our team. Following Geoff’s speech, Mayor Howard also made his own fantastic speech congratulating us.
We are so very thankful to everyone who was there with us for this exciting occasion. Our team looks forward to showing our communities everything we have to offer.
Geoffery Green’s Speech:
Mayor Howard’s Speech:
Agent Spotlight on Tammy Scotto
“It will all work out in the end”.
Tammy Scotto is a big believer that even when there are some bumps in the road throughout a transaction, it will all work out in the end.
Having many players at the table throughout a deal can sometimes be challenging but staying on top of everything can definitely contribute to a smoother transaction.
What separates Tammy from other realtors is her communication and responsiveness to clients. She is big on communication; whether there is information to be relayed or a period of time while under contract she always keeps the line of communication open.
23 Years and Still going strong!
Tammy obtained two licenses in 1999; her real estate license and her marriage license. She is happy to report that both are still thriving. Tammy initially became a real estate agent as she had always had a passion for sales and working with people. With her marriage and the thought of children on the horizon, she knew this career enabled her to be a stay-at-home mom while working part-time. As her children grew, so did her business moving into full-time real estate.
Now with two children off to college, she has ample time to dedicate to her clients. Tammy works long days and always tries to be available for calls, from early morning right through after dinner time. Regardless of whether a client is buying or selling, it’s stressful; Tammy feels that having the ability to connect with her clients and answer questions or concerns as they arise is “priceless” and helps ease their worries.
A memorable deal.
When Tammy was asked about her most memorable real estate transaction this is what she told us:
“I recently worked with a single woman moving to Warwick from another area. We met during the summer of 2020, in the midst of covid, with a home price range of $350-450K. When we finally found a home, we had inspections done and it turned out there were structural concerns that made her uncomfortable with moving forward. My client then saw a house for 700K and asked me to show it to her. She wound up closing on that home and said to me ” See what happens when you double your budget?””
-Tammy Scotto
Pride in her work.
Tammy is proud to be able to say that each year her sales volume grows. She loves to set goals for herself every year and while she might not hit every goal, each one helps her improve her business. Tammy has her CIREC (Commercial & Investment Real Estate Certification) and while she may not have one specific specialty she does work a lot with first-time home buyers as well as many sellers. Tammy has lived in Orange County her entire life and has a vast knowledge of the Greenwood Lake and Warwick areas as well as the surrounding towns. Working with an agent who knows the area as well as Tammy does comes as a huge advantage.
While Tammy has been in the business for over 23 years she attributes the success of her current business to all the training and support given by Geoff Green. Now that we are affiliated with Better Homes & Gardens she is excited to grow her business even further.
Is the Housing Market Correcting?
If you’re following the news, all of the headlines about conditions in the current housing market may leave you with more questions than answers. Is the boom over? Is the market crashing or correcting? Here’s what you need to know.
The housing market is moderating compared to the last two years, but what everyone needs to remember is that the past two years were record-breaking in nearly every way. Record-low mortgage rates and millennials reaching peak homebuying years led to an influx of buyer demand. At the same time, there weren’t enough homes available to purchase thanks to many years of underbuilding and sellers who held off on listing their homes due to the health crisis.
This combination led to record-high demand and record-low supply, and that wasn’t going to be sustainable for the long term. The latest data shows early signs of a shift back to the market pace seen in the years leading up to the pandemic – not a crash nor a correction. As realtor.com says:
“The housing market is at a turning point. . . . We’re starting to see signs of a new direction, . . .”
Home Showings Then and Now
The ShowingTime Showing Index tracks the traffic of home showings according to agents and brokers. It’s a good indication of buyer demand. Here’s a look at that data going back to 2019 (see graph below):
The 2019 numbers give a good baseline of pre-pandemic demand (shown in gray). As the graph indicates, home showings skyrocketed during the pandemic (shown in blue). And while current buyer demand has begun to moderate slightly based on the latest data (shown in green), showings are still above 2019 levels.
And since 2019 was such a strong year for the housing market, this helps show that the market isn’t crashing – it’s just at a turning point that’s moving back toward more pre-pandemic levels.
Existing Home Sales Then and Now
Headlines are also talking about how existing home sales are declining, but perspective matters. Here’s a look at existing home sales going all the way back to 2019 using data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) (see graph below):
Again, a similar story emerges. The pandemic numbers (shown in blue) beat the more typical year of 2019 home sales (shown in gray). And according to the latest projections for 2022 (shown in green), the market is on pace to close this year with more home sales than 2019 as well.
It’s important to compare today not to the abnormal pandemic years, but to the most recent normal year to show the current housing market is still strong. First American sums it up like this:
“. . . today’s housing market looks a lot like the 2019 housing market, which was the strongest housing market in a decade at the time.”
Bottom Line
If recent headlines are generating any concerns, look at a more typical year for perspective. The current market is not a crash or correction. It’s just a turning point toward more typical, pre-pandemic levels. Let’s connect if you have any questions about our local market and what it means for you when you buy or sell this year.
Give Your Career a Boost With Green Team Realty
Why joining Green Team Realty will Benefit your Real Estate Career.
Whether you are a new real estate professional or someone who has been in the business for years, choosing the right brokerage is crucial. Finding a brokerage that provides its agents with top-of-the-line technology, support, and advanced training can give you an advantage in the field and make it easier for you to create a successful business. Green Team Realty ensures that each of its sales associates receives all of those benefits and more.
Build your online presence with Green Team’s Marketing Support.
In this day and age, social media plays an important role in how a real estate agent connects with their clients. When a new agent joins the team, they receive a Welcome Blog posted to our agency’s social media platforms. Alongside the initial Welcome Blog, our agents also have the option of Meet The Agent or About Me blog. Both of these will help you build your social media presence and SEO right out of the gate.
In addition to the blog posts, Green Team continuously offers its agents a great deal of social media advertising throughout their careers, including: New/Sold Listings, Client Testimonials, Awards and Achievement blogs, designation blogs, and more. Amongst many other things
Teamwork makes the Dreamwork!
Along with a friendly atmosphere, Green Team Realty provides each agent with an extensive support system. The Agent Service Managers (ASM) and Help Desk are available every weekday to assist with any questions you may have
Green Team offers monthly social events and Small Groups which were created to allow Sales Associates an opportunity to connect with and learn from their peers.
To ensure that agents have everything they need to be successful Green Team Realty offers an extensive training program that includes:
- Sales Associate Foundation
- Video Training tutorials
- Technology Training Weekly
- Training Sessions
- Mentor Program
- Activity, Meeting & Transaction tracking
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How Green Team can give you an advantage in Lead Generation and Client Management.
One of the most important parts of starting your Real Estate career is generating leads and managing your clients. At Green Team Realty, you will be provided with many opportunities to find new leads, including Lead Routing and Uptime Shifts.:
Lead Routing allows you to receive new leads sent directly to your phone. All that you would need to do is hit accept and start getting to know your new client.
Additionally, Uptime Shifts are a great way to build your clientele. Uptime shifts are in-office hours which give you the first opportunity to speak to any potential clients that may call or stop by.
Green Team believes that it is essential to give their agents everything they need to successfully manage their client base.
Examples of some of the tools offered are:
- CRM Mobile UI.
- Email Marketing
- Event Tracker
- Google Calendar Sync.
- Projects & Transactions
- Instanet – e-doc signing right through commission statement processing.
An Office built on Support and Respect
You often hear that real estate is a cutthroat business and in some cases that may be true. Green Team Realty has worked hard to create a space where its associates can develop strong bonds and learn from their peers.
If you are interested in learning more about becoming part of the Green Team please connect with us. We would be excited to get to know you and talk about how we can help you grow your Real Estate Career.
New Agent, Michelle Spina Closes her First Sale!
Michelle Spina is a new agent, not only to Green Team Realty but also to real estate as a whole. With only a couple of months behind her in the profession, Michelle closed on her first sale at 319 South Route 94 in Warwick, NY. This is a commercial property that was available for rent.
Michelle attended college at SUNY New Paltz where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Marketing. She spent the last 6 years working as a TV Media Buyer where she serviced a large variety of clients, some of which include movie studios, grocery stores, and kids’ toys. Michelle excels in sales, advertising, and has great communication skills.
For the past couple of years, Michelle had been interested in starting a profession in real estate. With her history in marketing, she knew it would be a great opportunity for her. In March of 2021, she decided it was time to start her real estate career. She obtained her license and began her new career with Green Team New York Realty.
We look forward to seeing what other great opportunities lie ahead for Michelle and how far she will bring her business in the future. Congratulations Michelle!
If you would like to work with Michelle, contact us!
A Castle in the Valley
The Castle
Nestled on 13 beautiful acres, in Pine Bush, NY, near the Minnewaska State Parkland is a gorgeous castle built in the 1940’s. This one-of-a-kind 5 bedroom, 3 bedroom home was built for those looking to be treated like royalty. Overlooking a private, mountain-stream fed pond surrounded by beautiful gardens, sunrise views and a barn this home was recently renovated with updates that allow it to keep all of its character and charm. The stone exterior projects an 11th century vibe complete with a tower built for fairytales. Yet, Rapunzel will no longer be letting down her golden hair, instead you’ll find your zen in this yoga/meditation space.
The King
Who better to purchase a home fit for a king? Carlos Franqui, owner of Floratorium; bringing floral and art together to free flowers from the confines of their vase. Quoting the About section on his website: Carlos Franqui is an advertising creative turned fashion stylist and floral designer based in NYC. He combines his knowledge of media and brand strategy with his innate passion for art and design to innovate unique installation concepts for each of his clients. His work has been featured throughout the world but most recently at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. He has also worked with popular brands like Versace, Soul Cycle, The Beekman, Lively and more.
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- Castle Retreat
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- The Castle
The Sale
Real Estate Professional Karen Gauvin and Carlos began working together in the Winter of 2021. Carlos was originally in search of a rustic farmhouse that he could utilize as an opportunity to expand his business with a venue enabling him to host private, invitation-only events. Home after home was viewed but zoning regulations or unfit land prevented a purchase. Karen began to explore alternate options and came across the castle. With inches of snow on the ground, they strapped on their snows boots exploring the glorious frozen tundra. As they toured the grounds and climbed the castle stairs, Carlos’s mind began to fill with creative opportunities this new search has delivered. His original thoughts on a rustic farmhouse getaway became entrenched with the creative endeavors of an exclusive castle retreat. Spring in the Hudson Valley showered green on the castle lands and with the blossoms emerging the sights of a secret garden. A perfect destination for a floral artist, this castle could be no better suited for this king.
Our agents expertise and understanding of her clients allowed this entrepreneur to fulfill her client’s wishlist with a home that exceeded his expectations.
Green Teams Small Groups
If you’re looking to improve your real estate career, consider joining a brokerage that puts emphasis on teamwork and peer relationships. Even though that might not be something that initially comes to mind as a helpful resource in real estate. Green Team Realty is showing the positive effects that it has on its agents’ work.
“Small Groups” was created by Green Team Realty to give its sales associates the opportunity to connect and learn more from their peers. Each group consists of 1 group leader and no more than 10 group members. These meetings occur monthly with the exception of August and December. Every group is then given activities and discussion topics that cover everything from sales skills to health and wellness.
Carol Buchanan was the first sales associate to lead one of these groups. She has been a real estate professional for nearly 29 years, a member of Green Team New York Realty for four years, and achieved the Gold Award for $5-10 Million in Sales Volume for 2021. . Her group meets on the second Friday of every month and the members have grown exceptionally close since its start. Carol works with Morgan Beattie, New York’s Agent Service Manager (ASM), to make sure that her group has everything they need for the meetings including printouts and snacks.
Carol, as well as the other group leaders, are experienced professionals and great people for their group members to learn from.
Green Team Realty hires agents of all experience levels and Small Groups is a great asset to new and experienced agents alike. If this sounds like a team you would enjoy being part of, consider reaching out to us to learn more about what Green Team offers its agents.
Congratulations to the Kimiecik Team!
Congratulations to Chis and Megan Kimiecik for reaching not 1 but 2 new personal bests!
Teamwork makes the dream work and Chris and Megan are reaching impressive new milestones in 2022. In March alone this amazing team brought in a whopping $1,877,500 in sales volume. This brings their first-quarter sales volume to $2,474,500! Not only was this their best quarter yet but they have already surpassed their 2021 sales volume in only the first quarter of 2022!
Now that’s something to celebrate!
