Category Archives: multifamily

NYC Commercial real estate prices remain strong

According to the latest study from Ariel Property Advisors, the dollar volume of commercial real estate deals is up about 28% year to date over the same period in 2017. Additionally, 4 of the 5 boroughs are showing price increases in multi-family. Manhattan was up 16% price per unit versus last year. Only Brooklyn’s price per unit decreased.

This is consistent with what I am seeing which is continued foot traffic at my exclusives which include a 12 unit near Madison avenue in Central Harlem for $5.7 million and a 4500 sqft SRO in Mount Morris. Additionally, there is plenty of interest in 20-40 unit buildings Uptown with little inventory.

Commercial Observer coverage

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.

Average 1 bedroom rental in Harlem just under $2,000

The average rental price for a 1 bedroom apartment in Harlem above 125th street is $1994 per month according to a study of rental listings. The average price for a studio is $1784 and the average days on the market is 22 day for active listings.

In the last couple of years the rental market has been in a down cycle but likely this will be coming to an end in the next year as excess inventory is absorbed and a new cycle of increases begins.

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.

49 East 129th street Coming soon to the market

A 9000 sqft 12 family will be coming soon to the market. The property was built in 2007 and has a 25 year tax abatement. There are 11- 1 bedroom apartments and 1 studio. All apartments are in very good condition and the building is fully rented. Rents range from about $1500 to $1900. Nearly all tenants are being charged a preferential rent.

The asking price will be $6 million.

The building has huge upside potential as a potential condo conversion or a turnkey investment in the East Harlem area.

More details coming soon.

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.

Harlem townhouse shortage below $2 millon

According to the July Harlem townhouse report, not one townhouse below $2 million was listed for sale. In July,  2 of the 4 sales recorded in the Central Harlem,Hamilton Heights townhouse market, were below $2 million. That brings the number of available properties below $2mm to only 6 out of over 80 listings. I am seeing a little bit of a tug of war as sellers priced at around $2.3-2.6 now begin to see the market may not sustain these prices for their Harlem properties  and probably not for 4 family homes above 125th street.

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.

July Harlem townhouse market report

The July market saw 13 new townhouse listings come on the market in the Central Harlem, Hamilton Heights area. The first table shows the number of new listings by price on the left side and the prices of the 4 sales on the right.

The 2nd  table shows the amount of active listings which has stayed steady the last several months and the amount of time it would take to sell the existing inventory.

The last table shows the current active listings by price range. 40% of the listings are in the $2-3 mm range and very few listings are less than $2 million.

average  $       3,225,000 4 sales
6 $2-3 mm 3,175,000
5 $3-4 mm 3,350,000
2 >$4mm 1,625,000
1,800,000
# active Inventory
82 21 months
Listings by price
<$2mm 6
$2mm-$2.99mm 33
$3mm-$3-99mm 26
$4mm + 17

June Harlem townhouse report

Harlem townhouse May report

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.

What’s the advantage of tax class 2A and 2B for Manhattan properties?

Some investors focus on larger apartment buildings for their acquisition and may miss out on smaller ones that make just as much or more sense. In a recent Commercial Observer, a commercial broker takes a look at the advantage of tax class 2A and 2B(4-10 units) and perhaps acquiring a few of those instead of large buildings that are just in tax Class 2(11+ units).

Full coverage from Commercial Observer

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.

How to minimize the taxes on the sale of your Manhattan property

One of the easiest way to save money on the sale of your Manhattan investment property is to do a 1031 exchange also known as a like kind exchange. The gist is you sell an investment property, and purchase a property of similar value. The property must close within 6 months of the sale of the first property and you need to identify it within 45 days of the closing of the sale.

Let’s take a look at an example.

You have an investment condo worth $2 million that you have owned for 20 years that you bought for $500,000. Instead of paying tax on the profit, you buy another property worth $2 million and roll over the gain. The purchase can be another condo, multi-family, vacant land etc… When you close the sale of the condo, you have 45 days to identify potential purchases and 6 months to close or you lose the opportunity to do the 1031 exchange. Speak to your CPA and attorney for details on how to execute this process. But once you execute the purchase, you trade one property for the other and have deferred the taxes. With the typical Manhattan condo investment property returning 2-3%, you can probably buy another property either in New York or another statement that will return two to three times the net cash flow. In addition, if you have owned an asset for a number of years, it is likely you have depreciated it possibly even to the max. By starting over, you can begin depreciating anew. Again, speak to your CPA.

Keep in mind that a 1031 exchange is not for your primary residence but rather a property that you have rented it as an investment with one exception. The 1031 exchange can be used for your primary residence if you own a townhouse where you live it but rent other apartments. So in the case of a 3 family, your primary residence is the unit you live in and if you rent the other two units, the 1031 exchange can be applied to the rental portion of the building.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every Manhattan market from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

How to take advantage of the difference in pricing of 4 family versus 2 family

As you examine listings in the Harlem townhouse market, you  notice the discrepancy in price per square foot of 4 family homes versus 2 family. One idea is to buy a 4 family which in today’s market can be purchased for around $2 million or less and then begin combining the units to make a 2 or even 3 family home.  One recent 4 family that I viewed had a small studio, duplex and 2 floor through apartments. In this case, taking down one wall and you create a duplex plus two floor through apartments. Additionally, more and more you are seeing the cellar being incorporated as a game room, den, exercise room so that also can be recaptured, space.

The least expensive 3 family home in the market right now in Central Harlem is for $2.5 million. With that being the case, if you purchase a 4 family for around $2 mm or less then convert to a 3 family, you would already have equity in the difference in the pricing.

The least expensive 2 family right now in Central Harlem is over $2.8 million.

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.

 

 

 

313 West 138th street Sold and closed

313 West 138th street, an 8 unit rent stabilized building recently closed. The asking price for the 17′ wide building between Frederick Douglass boulevard and Edgecombe avenue was $1,800,000 and the purchase price was $1,870,000. The buyer was a professional firm that owns a portfolio of buildings in the Bronx. One unit was delivered vacant at closing and the building had some deferred maintenance.

 

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.

Harlem townhouse updated market report

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.

April new listing data

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.