If you are thinking about selling your Manhattan single room occupancy(SRO), now is the time to apply for the certificate of no harassment. Changes are coming starting to the application process,in September. Suffice is to say that the City is expanding the program to encompass areas where tenants are susceptible to harassment in rapidly gentrifying areas like West Harlem, East Harlem and several parts of the Bronx. The new program will have a 5 year look back and will not just be for SROs but will include as well properties with a history of proven harassment as well as an expanded set of buildings in the pilot areas.
According to analysis done today, there are 78 townhouses for sale in Central Harlem and Hamilton Heights ranging from $1.7 million to $5.7 million. There are 20 buildings in this area in contract bringing the total number of active plus contract to 98.
Most but not all of these 20 contracts were signed within the first four months of the year. 34 listings closed since the beginning of the year. That means there is approximately 10 months of existing supply in the market at this time.
Active listings
Contracts
Sold
78
20
34
For that reason, even listings in Central Harlem and Hamilton Heights that look to be very attractively priced are languishing on the market and price reductions are pretty steep these days.
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
Understanding NYC’s archaic and often inequitable system of real estate taxes might be a life long pursuit but for the purposes of this blog, let’s take a look at a couple of the items that influence your real estate taxes of a Manhattan townhouse.
One of the influencing factors is how recently the property transferred. You have some long time owners in Manhattan whose properties are now worth several million dollars yet their assessed values are artificially low due to the lack of a recent sale. However, once the property changes hands, the Department of Finance might be right there adjusting the value and raising your taxes.
321 West 136th street in Harlem is still sitting dormant with the windows removed from the building. It appears as if the property transferred late last year for $3.525 million 2 years after being purchased for $2.2 million. Plans were filed with DOB for a new 6 story building with 10,000 sqft of residential space. A loan was taken out at the same time so perhaps some sort of construction is imminent at the site.
West 136th street from Edgecombe look east toward Frederick Douglass.
Since April 1st, 22 townhouses have been in the market. The lowest price offering was for an SRO priced at just under $2 million to a historic home asking $5.25 million on Lenox avenue. This is a pretty significant amount of townhouses put in the market. Streeteasy is currently showing 19 townhouses in contract. Most of the townhouses have gone into contract in the first 4 months of the year. 4 contracts for Harlem townhouses were signed since April 1st. At that pace it would take about 6 months to sell off just the supply of houses that came on the market in April.
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
Many townhouse buyers like the idea of buying a Manhattan fixer upper but underestimate both the cost, time and effort involved with a renovation. If you purchase a fixer upper, the positives are that you can make the home exactly as you want from unit number, to finishes to outdoor space like a roof terrace or penthouse. But you will pay for that convenience in renovation costs which could be as low as $150 per square foot to as much as $700 or more per square for a high end renovation.
Additionally, a renovation will require approvals from Department of Buildings, as well as Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) if the building is one of the coveted Manhattan historic districts. Also there is no guarantee that if you purchase a $7 million Upper West side townhouse and add $4 million that your space is worth more than $11mm total.
I think the questions you should ask are:
1- Can you find something in a higher price range that is already finished close to what I am looking for in a townhouse?
2- Do you have all of the necessary capital to pay for the renovation including architecture fees, permits and expediters? Also, do you have the time to dedicate to supervising the work and making sure your expectations are met?
3- Do you have the patience to wait between 1-3 years or more for the townhouse to be finished while undergoing renovation?
4- Do you have enough capital to cover the cost overruns or increased costs associated with the unanticipated items?
5- Are you okay with the potential increase in real estate taxes due to the renovation and potential alteration? Speak to your real estate tax attorney for more details on that.
A townhouse renovation is not for the faint of heart and should be entered into with care and tons of research. Perhaps it might be wise instead, to purchase a Manhattan townhouse that is already renovated and ready for occupancy.
The dining area at 189 Edgecombe, a gut renovated townhouse in Hamilton Heights that is for sale for $2.525 million.The marble clad kitchen with island, dishwasher, garbage disposal, wine refrigerator and sliding doors to the deck. 189 Edgecombe avenue
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
At the Landmarks committee meeting of Community Board 10 last night, the Community Board turned down the owners of 128 West 119th street who were looking to gain support for installing flat windows on the 2nd floor of the townhouse in the Mount Morris Historic district. At the meeting, the architect for the new owners cited cost as one of the obstacles to installation of the curved windows. The new owners received a bid that would add an additional $30,000 to the cost of the renovation just for the 3 windows. The Community Board and the Block association recommended that they request additional bids to install curved windows in the 2nd floor window. The 20 foot wide house was purchased one year ago for $2,795,000 according to public records. According to the architect, there are 12 townhouses on the block with a similar curved facade, and 9 of them have flat windows and 3 have curved ones.
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
401 West 147th street, a 16′ wide townhouse that has been abandoned for the last several years, in the Historic district of Sugar Hill, is being cleaned up. A crew of 2-3 people were in the house yesterday loading up a full dumpster’s worth of materials. No permits are filed to give an indication of what work will be done. But at least, this may be the beginning of the end of this being an eyesore of one of Manhattan’s most beautiful blocks.
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
If you are thinking of selling your Manhattan townhouse one of the first things you should verify is your certificate of occupancy. A certificate of occupancy tells a prospective buyer what the legal use is. The challenge is that the certificate of occupancy rules came about in 1938 and many homes were built before that. As a result, you may have a building without a certificate of occupancy. Department of Buildings site Go to the DOB site and enter the address of the property then click on certificate of occupancy link. Many properties will not have a certificate of occupancy on file. In some cases the CofO may contradict the actual use. Consult with your lawyer and architect and your real estate broker to see what would be required to modify the CofO and if it can be sold without bringing the C of O inline with the actual use.
If there isn’t a CofO on file then it may get even more complicated. Consult with your attorney/architect to see what the DOB records indicate. Sometimes, it can be confusing due to different NYC agencies classifying your Harlem townhouse as different usages. Recently, I met a homeowner who said his building was “registered” as a 4 family with the City. Upon initial research he was being taxed as a 4 family by the NYC Department of Finance but his CofO says 3 family home. If your CofO says 3 family, you have a 3 family.
As always, this blog is intended for informational purposes and not as a substitute for legal advice so please consult your attorney. Your real estate broker can normally recommend an attorney for you who specializes in real estate and hopefully can shed some light on any CofO issues that you might have. Additionally, an experienced, Manhattan townhouse broker can advise you on what is customary as far as paper work and what would cost you money in terms of marketability.
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
Virtual reality and augmented reality are very slowly starting to enter the real estate brokerage business. In some new developments you can take a VR tour when a building is in the pre-construction phase. More often than not, a model apartment is created so that the buyer can see, and feel the touches of a new luxury apartment in Manhattan. Real estate brokerages and agents tend to be slow adopters of new technology however and as a result, very few listings even ones in the luxury and super luxury market have a VR tour which does not require technology like a viewer. You can tour the property just like you use google maps navigating through in the way that you would like. Very few listings even have a video tour. I would estimate 5-10% of all listings. Take a look at an example below of a VR tour and a video tour. One photographer said he felt that VR was a fad. I am not sure I agree as I think it is a tool that allows property to be truly showcased 24/7 and the buyer can zoom in on the details that they want to see.
The Author- Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every neighborhood from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.
News about the NYC real estate residential and commercial markets provided and interpreted by an industry veteran licensed since 1999. Brian Silvestry of BSRG Inc. Licensed real estate broker
Brian Silvestry
