A trophy apartment seeking a buyer who needs no financing.
Pick a million, any million
When it comes to pricing properties these days, brokers in Manhattan are at a loss. In a dynamic market, they’ll tell you, no one knows the best asking price.
Now, comparable recorded sales are almost useless: Those contracts were signed months previously, and the housing market has changed. Continue reading
The city’s estate auction of five Manhattan condos and a co-op produced winning bids totaling $1.355 million.
However, three of the units went unsold at the event, which took place in the Surrogate Court’s building (left) starting at 11:30 a.m.
Following are the results, which I obtained (while supposedly on vacation) by telephone from Patricia Brown in the office of Public Administrator Ethel J. Griffin of New York County:
The sales of the co-ops are subject to approval by their boards of directors. If they reject the purchaser, deposits are returned and there is no penalty.
As for the turnout, Ms. Brown said there was an “adequate” number of bidders.
Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022
M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201
Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
Web site
The Federal Reserve Board’s latest “Beige Book” says nearly all of the institution’s districts found that their housing markets were pretty much weakening, or expected to weaken, after the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit.
Here’s what the book, which is based largely on anecdotal information from regional experts, said in toto about housing:
Nearly all Districts reported sluggish housing markets in the months since the homebuyer tax credit expired on April 30.
While some Districts, such as Boston and St. Louis, reported an increase in May and June home sales on a year-over-year basis, some contacts noted that these sales may reflect closings of homes under contract by the April tax credit deadline.
The Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Kansas City Districts reported that home sales are expected to weaken going forward.
Residential construction remained limited in several Districts. In the Atlanta District, residential construction activity softened from already weak levels. Homebuilders in the Cleveland District do not expect a turnaround in new home construction any time this year. Builders in the Chicago District are not introducing new inventory without a signed contract on a home. Housing starts were expected to decline for the second half of the year in the Dallas District and to increase slightly over the next three months in the Kansas City District.
Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022
M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201
Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
Web site
Certainly, the question is a valid one when parents of school-age children ask brokers about the quality of education near a property that they might want to purchase.
Good question or not, it is not one that any broker with a brain will answer.
A recent piece in the New York Times, which explored how important good schools are to parents in New York City, reminded me of the hazard that brokers face should they try to satisfy the buyer’s curiosity.
At issue is Continue reading
My body may be on vacation, but my mind is still following the news.
You can, too, by checking Twitter (@MalcolmBlogger) directly or by looking at my tweets to the right of these posts.
I’ll be back in town all too soon, and both this blog and my tweets will continue to keep you in the loop with a variety of information now and until my next newsletter, which I’ll publish again after Labor Day in a radically revamped format.
Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022
M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201
Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
Web site
Post-settlement occupancy can result in an unwelcome tug-o'-war between seller and buyer. (Flickr photo by tj.blackwell)
The technical term is post-settlement occupancy, or PSO.
In all those syllables is a basic situation: Sellers remain in the property after the buyers complete the purchase. Ownership has changed, but occupancy has not. Yet. (It is the opposite of another kind of PSO–pre-settlement occupancy, about which I wrote a couple of weeks ago.)
You easily can imagine some of the reasons that sellers might make the request, e.g.: Continue reading
One of the blogs I check daily–TheApple,Peeled–debates with itself the question facing sellers every summer.
It’s a fair question: Should they sell when many buyers are elsewhere or sweating, or should they wait until fall?
There’s no good answer, and it depends largely on individual circumstances.
But the fact remains that buyers are out there, they tend to be serious if so and deals are being struck every day–just not so many.
The piece nicely outlines the other pluses and minuses of selling now or waiting until fall, and I suggest that you have a gander if you’re wondering what to do.
And if you are a buyer, you may well find exactly what you are seeking while at the same enjoying decreased competition and relatively easy negotiations.
Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022
M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201
Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
Web site
iGraphic from curbed.com showing views from 121 W. 19th St. condo.
Listed in January 2007 for $3.95 million, an unsold penthouse at 121 W. 19th St. faces a foreclosure sale on July 28, according to curbed.com and propertyshark.com.
The condo is either 1,906 square feet (propertyshark) or 2,071 (the old listing for PH-E). With $209,298 of assessed value and a lien of $3,237,096, the loft was last listed for $3.7 million until it was taken of the market in March of last year. Continue reading
If you don't ask, no one needs to tell. (Flickr photo by cbsparklane)
Like physicians or lawyers at a cocktail party, real-estate brokers can be handy targets for consumers who want free advice.
I’m sure I’ve been guilty of asking impertinent questions, too. Everyone seems to handle them in different ways, and I know I don’t have a consistent response.
Sometimes, the person asking the question is considering which broker to hire to sell a property. What the owner invariably wants to know is how much it is worth and for how much it should be listed.
Frankly, I don’t like to give that information away free, not Continue reading
Everyone knows that the deposit for the purchase of real estate will be returned to the buyer if the transaction falls apart for reasons specified in the contract.
But the fine print in the boiler-plate language in a typical contract of sale for real estate in New York is well worth reading. Continue reading
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