Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

A big question. How has social media affected real estate purchases? Are there positive impacts? Negative ones? Both? On one hand, I hear stories about how Facebook is helping realtors do business, Instagram helping us promote what we’re up to, spreading the word, quite effectively, with very beautiful photographs. I do get to see absolutelyRead more

Sellers of cooperative apartments who are seeing their properties linger are wondering what they can do. You can take a look at our reports here and here for a bit more color about inventory and the market. I can point out a few trends which hurt the resale prospects of older, less renovated properties: BuyerRead 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

I began my real estate career working at Citi Habitats, focused on rentals. It was trial by fire, and there couldn’t have been a better training ground for someone who had never worked in residential real estate. I saw 80-100 apartments per week, whether previewing them, showing them to prospective renters, and managing the hustleRead more