If you”™re looking at relocating executives as a bellwether for the economy, then you might see a brighter picture in Westchester County ”“ sort of.
“There”™s been a slight pickup,” says Jean Pamela (“J.P.”) Endres-Fein. She is the newly appointed director of agent development at Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty in White Plains. “It”™s a combination of our country transferring people to our area and foreign nationals”¦.When foreign countries start to bring nationals over, it”™s a sign of recovery.”
Carmela Sirico, who specializes in relocating executives for Keller Williams Realty in White Plains, has also started to see improvement. But there are not as many companies moving multiple executives and no new companies are coming, she says.
Of the 19 relocations she has done this year, 18 were rentals, while one executive is renting with an eye to purchasing.
Buying can be a challenge in uncertain housing and job markets, says Chrissy Hazelton, a licensed salesperson in Better Homes and Gardens”™ Rye office.
“The executive might be assigned here for only two to five years,” she says.
“And that,” Sirico adds, “is not going to give you enough time to turn around the house for a profit.”
Nevertheless, Endres-Fein ”“ until recently a principal broker with Homes of Westchester and New York state”™s “Realtor of the Year” (see related story, Page 15) ”“ says she is beginning to see some relocated executives move into buying.
Still, renting is the name of the game, and that”™s good since there are plenty of rentals out there, particularly in high-end luxury buildings. Endres-Fein does not interpret that as a sign of continuing economic struggles, however, but of necessary price adjustments.
Not all of the “relos” that area brokers do are high-powered execs.
Recently, Endres-Fein rented a house for $9,000 a month to a member of the New York Rangers, another to a Japanese executive for $5,200 a month and a studio apartment to a first-year teacher.
Of the three, the teacher”™s lease was the most satisfying accomplishment, Endres-Fein says:
“It”™s a good feeling to settle someone who”™s just starting out.”
