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Category Archives: Real estate
Thinking of selling your Harlem SRO?
SROs or single room occupancies have a wide range of value in Harlem. SROs are typically set up as rooming houses where there might be several rooms per floor with a common bathroom or kitchen. The most valuable SRO will have a certificate of no harassment and be delivered vacant. The least valuable will have non-paying tenants and be delivered without the CONH. What is a CONH and why would having it add at least $100k to the value of your SRO?
A CONH is granted after an investigation or look back by NYC’s Housing Preservation and Development of approximately 3 years. They are looking at your history of tenants to see if any tenants were forced out or harassed. Some of the questions on the application ask if you have had a discontinuation of service like heat, hot water or electricity, a potential sign that the tenants might have left due to poor living conditions. It takes approximately 7 months according to reps at HPD to get a CONH assuming the application is in order. You can have an experienced lawyer do this for you and they will charge $3k-$5k depending on how complicated the case is. So if you have some advance notice you might want to apply for this prior to putting your house on the market. If you are a DIY’er then you can fill in the application yourself and can visit the HPD during the week between 9-11am with your walk in questions. Make sure your property is registered with HPD. The CONH is valuable because the purchaser of your property will not be granted building permits to alter the SRO without a CONH. Also, while it may be difficult for you to come up with the names of all the tenants who lived in the property, it is impossible for the buyer so in some cases they may even just decide to sit on the house for 3 years before applying for the CONH. For that, they will expect a severe discount.
Certificate of no harassment application
As you are arranging your future plans to sell, you will want to maintain an excellent relationship with your tenants so they vouch for you if contacted by the City. Also, if they are not a rent stabilized tenant then you might not want to renew their lease which will give you the option to ask them to vacate with a 30 day notice. If you can get by without the income, vacating the house just prior to listing will make it easier to show and sell, but certainly ethically empty out the house prior to closing. If the tenants are rent stabilized then you may need to offer them a buyout or leave that up to the next purchaser. If you must deliver the house occupied make sure that your tenants are current. A building full of non-paying tenants will be only taken on by investors if the price is very low.
As this sale is a complicated one, you will need a team to insure the most lucrative sale including an experienced and knowledgeable real estate broker, a real estate attorney plus perhaps even an architect or expediter. Even though it may seems like a burdensome effort, it will be worth it in the end especially if you know that you have lead time. If you have even only a few months before you will sell, it makes a lot of sense to plan ahead and get a CONH and get the house vacant for closing.
Upper west side buildings to drop Trump name
140,160 and 180 Riverside boulevard are going to be dropping the Trump name as a result of a 600 person petition that was signed. Equity Residential is the owner for these 3 buildings which will soon just be known by their street addresses.
Is Brownstone Lane Harlem’s best kept secret?
The condominium known as Brownstone Lane I and II is located on West 118th street, West 119th street and West 120th street between Frederick Douglass boulevard and Morningside avenue adjacent to Harlem’s Restaurant Row and a short walk to Morningside Park. In addition, with the express subway at 125th street it’s easy commute to Midtown. But why are so few apartments for sale? Currently there aren’t any apartments for sale and only 3 for rent. There can be several reasons for this.
Price is very attractive at around $1200 per sqft. Recently, a 3bd/2ba 1419 sqft apartment transacted at $1,740,000 and was in the market for less than 2 months before it went to contract. Brownstone Lane I does not allow subletting so that may explain the less transitory nature of the buildings. With the neighborhood amenities plus the architectural aesthetic of the Brownstone facades which fit well in the neighborhood, it is not surprising that some buyers may eschew the fancier glass buildings on FDB in favor of the more traditional look and feel of this complex. Also, the common courtyards give children and families a chance to get to know their neighbors.
Since the buildings are tax abated until 2033, that may also explain a lack of willing sellers. Upgrading to a larger apartment is difficult when you have a nice amenity package, convenient location and very low monthly charges.
Here comes the Sun: Will NYC become the Solar City?
Sunday’s NYT article detailed some of the many reasons that not only single family homes in the suburbs are installing solar systems. Thanks to falling costs and grants from NYS, many buildings can recoup their expenses in about 5 years from installing solar panels. Additionally, thanks to some new innovative techniques, more solar panels can be installed on even flat brownstone roofs. However, one of the limited factors is the NYC fire code which restricts how much surface area of a roof can be covered by panels.
Cuomo tries to revive 421-a
Governor Andrew Cuomo has offered a subsidy to be used by developers to offset the higher cost of union construction in Manhattan. The plan is rough around the edges and was presented to a group of 20 developers in Manhattan. The unions feel the wage proposal is fair and of course developers in NYC are concerned about rising cost of labor and land. As part of a condition of continuing the 421-a program which expired in January, the State has insisted that labor and REBNY come to agreement on wages. Without 421-a, it becomes cost prohibitive to build rental housing and/or affordable housing.
Part of Governor Cuomo and Mayor DeBlasio’s initiative is to create more affordable housing in NYC. Read the full article below.
Will Manhattan real estate values continue to increase?
While everyone by now has heard about the glut of the luxury apartments in the Manhattan real estate market, what about the rest of the market? The market below $3 million continues to move well and we have seen upticks in activity of foreign buyers/investors who are looking for a safe haven for their money. The stock market right now is breaking new records but how long will this last? On the other side of the spectrum, even during the financial crisis Manhattan real estate values did not drop much except in developing neighborhoods. It just took longer to sell. Given that there is still scarcity below $3 million and especially family sized apartments, the lower end continues to move well.
Unlike during the Financial crisis of 2006-2008, Manhattan real estate developers have been only building luxury and super luxury for the last several years with only a few exceptions. Now, financing for these developments has dried up as lenders are risk averse and hesitant to lend funds to sell Manhattan super luxury apartments in an already glutted market. The below article talks about what lengths even one of the most well known Manhattan developers had to go to secure financing. Where do you think Manhattan real estate values are heading?
Thinking of selling your NYC apartment?
With the current NYC real estate market moving more towards a balanced market in all price points, what must a seller do to sell their apartment right now and for the most money? Follow through on these 5 musts and you will be well on your way to a successful sale.
1-Price right from the beginning. If you are going to sell your Manhattan apartment now, you need to look at the latest sales and with an unbiased eye come up with the right price and perhaps be a little aggressive. When you move past the initial marketing period it becomes harder to sell an apartment and listings can go stall. In order to price right from the beginning, look at the similar apartments preferably in your building and adjust the values. Typically appraisers will adjust 1% per floor. So if you own 10F and 15F was sold then it was worth at least 5% move. Appraisers will also adjust for view sometimes 5-10% of value. Apartments that are renovated versus not renovated often carry a premium of cost of renovations plus cost of the inconvenience. So, a buyer might need an additional 100k to renovate an apartment but what about the time and hassle? That factors in as well. So consult with your broker to arrive at a market price.
2- Consider staging or at least organizing. Apartments that are staged sell for more and quicker than vacant apartments. Two years ago I sold a loft that was basically a large one room (1000sqft-93m2)studio. By staging it, we were able to define for the buyers where the living room, bedroom, and dining rooms should be. To stage an apartment of around 1100 sqft, will typically cost around $10k but worth every penny. There are less expensive alternatives around as well which range from virtual staging to systems that cost in between. If you can not stage then at least remove the excess clutter, put away the dirty dishes, and family photos. You really want a buyer to be able to visualize themselves in your home. If they can not do that, they will not buy.
3- Make sure to have professional photos and a video done of the space. Your broker will handle this but only a small percentage will do a professional video that can be shared on social media and used as a tool to qualify buyers. If there is a professional video available, a buyer can see it before the showing/open house.
4- Choose your broker carefully. Some simple questions that you can ask to distinguish one broker from another:
a- How long have you been in real estate in Manhattan?
b- What is your marketing plan for my property?
c- Who will handle the showings? Yourself personally or someone on your team?
d- Will you follow up with the attorneys, bank and help to coordinate closing?
e- Have you sold other properties like mine?
f- Do you live in this neighborhood?
g- How many listings do you have right now? This is a key question because if the agent has too many then you are just going to be one of many of their clients.
5- Once you have selected your broker, and chose an appropriate price, you will want to make showings as easy as possible. By giving your broker a key and allowing showings even on short notice, you can make your property one of the favorite listings for buyer brokers to show because they know that they can get in easily. You never know who will be the buyer. It only takes one.
Uses these basic steps to position your Manhattan co-op, condo or townhouse appropriately in the market and you will maximize your chances of selling. Good luck!
Thinking of buying a Condop?
There are about 300 or so buildings in NYC that are condop but many people get confused as to what it actually is. Typically, it’s a residential co-op on top of retail where the retail is a condo. Read Brownstoner’s more detailed explanation to find out what exactly they are and where most of them are.
http://www.brownstoner.com/real-estate-market/what-is-a-condop-definition-condo-co-op-brooklyn/
Extell’s Central Park Tower seeking EB-5 financing
Due to the present credit crunch and slowdown of the Manhattan luxury real estate market, developers are finding it difficult to gain financing for their projects. Extell, the developer of One57 at 157 W 57th street, is working on what would be the tallest residential tower yet. At a cost of approximately $2 billion, Extell has already started construction on the lower floors but does not yet have the funds for the upper floors. So they are turning to the EB-5 visa program which allows a foreign national to invest $500,000 to $1million in exchange for a green card. This program is capped at 10,000 visas per year and is very popular with the Chinese. Many feel that the EB-5 program is being used contrary to it’s intent which was to spur construction and create jobs in poorer areas. The Central Park Tower will have a Nordstrom on the lower floors.