Posts from April 2021

Buyers are always looking for a way to connect with a seller, especially in today's market where bidding wars are happening with almost every home as soon as it goes on the market.  From Facebook connections to 6-degrees of separation, buyers go to great lengths to find a reason for the seller to choose their bid.  One growing fad to entice sellers to choose their bid on the home is by writing "love letters."  Look, these things never worked for me in high school, and I don't recommend them to home buyers today.  While these letters from the heart may seem harmless, trust me, they can open you up to potential problems that you could not have seen coming.   

I know what you're thinking, "Patrick, how could a letter be so bad?"

Technically, the letter is not the issue.  The problem lies in the information that is put into the swooning stanzas of these l...

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Youngstown State University Williamson College of Business Administration awarded the annual John Burgan Entrepreneurship Award to senior student, Andrew Boyer.  The $2,400 award, established by Patrick Burgan in honor of his father, John Burgan, was awarded to Boyer, a Computer-Digital-Electrical Engineering major, to help continue his start-up lighting, sound, and networking technology business.  Boyer was selected from all eligible entries and proposals from YSU students who are aspiring entrepreneurs with established solutions or businesses they currently offer while in school.  For the first time since the award was created in 2019, a $500 honorable mention award was presented to Annabelle Himes.

"The second year of the John Burgan Entrepreneurship Award brought more interest this year from YSU students looking to make their dreams of owning and growing their own business a reality," said Patrick...

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15 years ago, the housing market crashed, causing a worldwide recession.  While that history is in our not-so-distant past, many are correlating the same things we are seeing in our current market conditions as a reason to push the panic button.  Above list price sales, new construction delays, and low-interest rates point towards a Hindenburg-type crash but listen to Patrick and just, "Relax."  While today's market cannot sustain itself, a crash equivalent to 2006 is unlikely, and here's a few reasons to help you remove the paper bag from your face.  

LACK OF LOOSEY GOOSEY LENDING STANDARDS
While money is cheap right now, lenders are not embracing the "anyone can get a loan" practices from 15 years ago.  The practices that ultimately brought down banks and mortgage companies are not being leveraged in today's market.  Standards for lending...

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While most students get ready for a break from school for Spring Break, we never stop learning, no matter how many years we are out of organized school.  We continually find ways to grow and improve, discovering new things about ourselves and our abilities that help us become better.  For Colleen Richardson, she was one of those teachers who helped students find their potential but, after seeing an opportunity to become better herself, she decided to learn a new trade, becoming a licensed Realtor® and joining the Burgan Bunch as the newest residential real estate agent with Burgan Real Estate.

Richardson, a native of Youngstown, is a graduate of Youngstown Ursuline High School and Youngstown State University, where she earned an undergraduate degree in elementary school education.  She went on to receive two Master's Degrees in Literacy and Educational Leadership from Walden University in Min...

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