Blog

In this month’s video, I continue to muse on what seems to be driving the market into higher sales volume.  The very short answer?  Pricing.  That’s it.  If prices look to be “in the zone,” people make bids.  If prices seem to be too high, no offers.  Tumbleweeds.  So the question is this, sellers:  DoRead more

Buyers usually show two sides: The homebuyer side and the analytical side. Usually, it’s the homebuyer side that shows the truth. A buyer is trying to move forward in her life, for any number of reasons. Time to expand, time to downsize, and everything in between. Home is open, excited, and ready to find what’sRead 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

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

  This month I’ve been thinking about washers and dryers. What are they worth in a property? What is the discount if they aren’t allowed? This is such a NYC video. Almost everyone outside of New York City has laundry in their homes, but here, having a washer/dryer inside your apartment is subject to buildingRead more

A buyer comment yesterday: “I have some concerns that the market is going to stay soft for the next 2-3 years. I’m considering just renting and seeing what happens.” I’ve heard some flavor of this from way, way too many buyers. Another way to put this question is, “So when is the market going toRead more

  A choppy real estate market like this does a number on buyers. Think about it this way: Buyers (1) always want a deal, (2) are anxious that they are currently in a softening market, and (3) are spending a lot of money objectively, no matter when they buy in NYC. Additionally, buyers see thatRead more

Many of the well-known books on investing talk about buying when their is blood in the streets. That is, to take a contrarian view to things, to buy when everyone else is running or scared to do so. To trust that a market will revert to a mean, or that over a long enough timeRead more

When I discovered that there was a way for my clients to pay nothing for their attorney in the real estate transaction, yet get a qualified, seasoned attorney to represent them- I got excited! This is a wonderful “freebie” for people working at corporations, or any company that decides to participate in what’s called aRead more

For those who look at the New York City Housing Market all the time, like me, it would be nice if there were some better sense of a direction in which the market is moving. However, it has been a month, perhaps a year even, of mixed messages. How much of the news is noise?Read more