I’ve written about how buyers have gotten a bit accustomed to TV shows, where every house in Waco, Texas looks like a West Elm catalog. In the case of New York City, buyers have started to see more, more, and more staged apartments. West Elm Goes to Texas The expectation then becomes that every apartmentRead more
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I haven’t been writing as much on new development of late. In this case, I wanted to think through what buying in a particular new building would look like if you decided, from the building, that you would be buying as an investor. In this case, after five years, the math could work so thatRead more
I think WE all are watching the implosion of We(Work) with curiosity. Beyond their chief co-working offering, I found the educational experiment of WeGrow fairly interesting, and my limited experience with Adam Neumann and his wife Rebekah, who were fellow parents at my school for a year, gave me some insight into what they wereRead more
One of my favorite times is when my customers, aka my homebuyers, bring their families to see their new apartment for the first time. Of course, some buyers bring a consensus-building approach to their purchases, bringing lots of family members to the property before they choose to proceed. Many others, however, leave their families outRead more
Conventional Wisdom would see things this way: If the sales market is strong, the rental market should be weak. If the sales market is weak, the rental market should then be strong. Most of the time, it looks that way. And right now, it would appear, by most metrics, that the sales market is softer,Read more
Probably 95% of what I do is empower buyers and sellers to move forward in their lives. Real estate remains the most tangible expression of who they are. And what is more tangible than doing a renovation exactly how you want to do it? And yet- this can be incredibly daunting. You need patience andRead more
It’s that time of the summer when buyers are particularly tuned out from, well, most things. So, it’s not entirely surprising to get “please update me” questions about the real estate market. What seems odd is the question I’m getting quite often right now: “Do you expect the real estate market to drop 15-20% ifRead more
The question that was put to me last week: “Does a building’s rules to allow pets, specifically dogs, impact the value of a property?” I have sold about 25 units in a building on the West Side that has not allowed dogs in many years, so the question isn’t new to me. Some shareholders wereRead more
Quick thoughts about the Federal Housing Administration, also known at the FHA, or HUD – Housing and Urban Development. “The FHA estimates it could insure as many as 60,000 additional condo loans each year under new rules.” What does this mean? Whenever the government is the backstop for a particular property group, it means thatRead more
The summer is a time to recharge the batteries. In the case of the Manhattan and Brooklyn markets, it may also be a time to get really amazing deals. I’m thinking about how mortgage rates are likely to come down, inventory is slightly up in most places, and prices are slightly down from a yearRead more