If you are an international buyer looking for an investment property in the confusing Manhattan real estate market, there are many things to consider but here we have one simple tip. Consider buying in a new construction building that is tax abated.

A tax abated building will give you a higher rate of return of your investment due to the low monthly charges in comparison to a similar building without the abatement. A 20 year tax abatement will mean you pay probably around $100 or so per month instead of nearly $1500(at least). By year 12, the taxes begin to adjust upwards with each 2 year cycle the taxes going up as per the below.

Year 12 20% of fair market taxes
Year 14 40% of fair market taxes
Year 16 60% of fair market taxes
Year 18 80% of fair market taxes
Year 20 100% of fair market taxes

So for example a $3mm apartment with 2 bedrooms/2.5 bathrooms with common charges of about $1800 and 1300 sqft (120m2) of living space might rent for about $7000. With a tax abatement, your monthly return is about $5100 or $61,200 annually assuming taxes of $100 per month. Your rate of return is just above 2% on the $3mm investment. These would be the numbers for 50 Riverside boulevard aka One Riverside Park on Manhattan’s upper west side. Now if the building was not tax abated and you were paying $1500 per month in real estate taxes then your monthly return goes down to $3600 or $43,200 annual. The rate of return of approximately would be approximately 1.4%. Over the course of 10 years, the savings from a tax abatement would be approximately $170,000.

So if you are an international investor or even a local real estate investor purchasing new construction in Manhattan, take a look at tax abated buildings. Certainly, there are not a ton of them but they do exist and will increase your rate of return both now and long term.