All posts by Brian Silvestry

I have been in the real estate industry first as a licensed agent and as a broker since 1999. I have sold in every Manhattan neighborhood though do work a lot on the Upper west side where I live and upper Manhattan. I speak French,Portuguese, and Spanish.

What use are air rights in a Manhattan townhouse in a historic district?

If your plan is to expand a Manhattan townhouse in a landmark district you will need to get approval from the Landmark Preservation Commission(LPC) before getting a Department of Buildings Permit. You  should hire an architect who is familiar and has worked before with the LPC so that they can best advise you. Generally, you might be able to build an extension on the back of the house that will match what the LPC has approved for neighboring properties but they may or may not let you go as high as they did. Also, materials used in the renovation will influence their decision to approve or deny including down to the types of windows and colors of the window frames.

Putting a penthouse on the roof might also be acceptable but it can not be visible from the street. So you might have 3000 square foot of air rights left on an Upper West townhouse on park block but the likelihood that you will be able to use  them all will be small.

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.

Manhattan closing costs for buyers and sellers

Here is a look at the closing costs for buyers and sellers of Manhattan real estate.

For the Seller:

Coops,Condos,residential 1-4 family
Brokerage Commission negotiable typically 6%
NYC Transfer tax:
1% of price for purchases up to $500,000
1.425% of price for purchases over $500,000
NYS Transfer tax
$2 per $500.00 of sales price
Attorney fee $1500 and up
Flip tax (depends on building) 0-5% COOPS*** Continue reading Manhattan closing costs for buyers and sellers

Should you make a bid for a Manhattan property at or before an open house?

If you are looking at a Manhattan property which just listed and the first open house is set up for Sunday, I would say that it makes little sense to make an offer prior to the open house. At the open house, the agent can potential shop this offer to all other interested parties. I would recommend instead to have your offer submitted Monday morning. Recently, an interested client asked what would have to be done to have an open house cancelled. The answer the seller agent gave, was that it would be nearly impossible to have that happen.

The exception being if that the property is listed on Monday or maybe Tuesday and the open house is 5-6 days away, you might be able to submit an offer and have the contract fully executed prior to the open house but that will be unlikely due to the amount of time needed for due diligence.

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.

Is it better to purchase and renovate a townhouse or spend more for a renovated one?

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.

Manhattan market reports as of April 19

According to the latest market reports, the average listing price is down about 10% compared to last year, but 25 contracts over $4 million were signed last week. $849 million dollars of contracts have been signed in the $4million and up segment since the last week of March which is the best start of the Spring market since 2015. What do these seemingly differing numbers mean? The luxury/new development market has been in a buyer’s market for about 2 years now. As a result, the buyer and seller expectations are more inline with each other than lower price points. For the last year or so, new developments have been open to negotiations. Additionally, some projects have been paused or never got off the ground. So the existing inventory is being sold.

This is unlike the below $4 million price market where sellers’ expectations needs to adjust to the current reality and that they will not achieve the same prices that were reached a year ago. Manhattan buyer’s market tend not to last very long.

Additional data here

Broker confidence up according to latest study

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.

 

Manhattan vacancy rate decreasing

According to a recent report, the Manhattan vacancy rate is decreasing even as approximately half of the apartments rented were rented with some sort of concession like free month’s rent. As inventory has increased in the last few years, landlords have adjusted their expectations and as a result the vacancy rate has decreased even in one of the slowest months of the year for Manhattan rentals.

Real Estate Weekly 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.

Community Board turns down 128 West 119th street windows proposal

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.

Trader Joe’s Upper west side now has signage

The Trader Joe’s store that is being built at 670 Columbus avenue now has signage. Opening date to be determined.

Trader Joe’s has installed signage this week and will be located at 670 Columbus 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.

How can a landlord maximize the rent on a Manhattan studio apartment?

For many Manhattan landlords right now is a tough time to rent out apartments with approximately half the apartments being rented with some sort of concession like the owner paying the real estate fee or a free month’s rent. But what else can be done to maximize the rent for a small apartment? Here are a few quick tips.

1- Update the kitchen. If it’s a studio, a new kitchen can make a great deal of difference because most likely the living room and kitchen and together. Consider at least to change the refrigerator and perhaps add in a built in microwave for convenience. A dishwasher if there is space, is a luxury for a small apartment.

2- Install a washer/dryer in the basement of the building if there isn’t one already. Recently, I visited a brownstone where there was one washer and one dryer, coin operated I might add, in the cellar level shared by 6 apartments. This is a major luxury to have in a small building and will eliminate competition.

3- Add closets. Sometimes there is a place to add an additional closet or storage if the ceilings are high. More closets, and more storage is a major luxury. Sometimes you can add this space in the apartment and sometimes a storage locker in the cellar which is more of a condo amenity would really make you stand out from the competition and increase cash flow.

4- Make sure that you have a professional, tech savy Manhattan real estate broker who will at least have professional photos taken. Photos with a smart phone will just make small rooms look smaller. When I do a rental, I like to do professional photos and a floor plan. This really makes your listing stand out. See below link which was rented in 7 days. Recently rented apartment in Hamilton Heights

There are many other things that you can do to make your apartment, small or large, stand out and rent more quickly. Unfortunately, taking photos with a smartphone and putting it on the web is not enough these days especially due to all of the competition.

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.

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard leases pad in 72 story luxury tower in Midtown

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard, aka Thor, is riding high these days due to his team’s current 9 game winning streak and major league best 11-1 record. When he wants to unwind however, he relaxes in the luxury apartment he just rented in Sky, a luxury rental building which has over 1000 units.  The building, with 70,000 square foot of amenities, has been the residence of choice for other local athletes including AJ Ramos and several New York Knicks players.

Curbed coverage

Sky website

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.