Tag Archives: rentals

HamiltonHeights, Harlem, Listings, Rentals

189 Edgecombe avenue townhouse rented

The 2 family townhouse at 189 Edgecombe avenue has now rented. It has a garden apartment 1 bedroom with washer/dryer and a triplex apartment with 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. The triplex rented for $6,100 and the garden apartment for $2,200. Both apartments rented within 2 weeks of being listed.

The house underwent a full, gut renovation and restoration which took just over a year to complete.

 

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.

Luxury, Marketreports, New Developments, Rentals

24 luxury contracts signed last week

24 Luxury contracts were signed last week for property $4mm and above in Manhattan. Discounts drove the action as the average discount from the listing price is over 10%. It’s not unusual that property owners who purchased in the last 3 years are selling at a loss in order to liquidate.

In other reports, rents are still trending down with concessions like free month’s rent and owner paid broker fees fueling activity especially in new developments where 90% of the apartments were rented with concessions. Just under half (44%) of the new leases signed in Manhattan in April included concessions.

Does it make sense for a Manhattan owner to pay the broker fee?

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.

Marketreports, Rentals

Is Airbnb causing NYC renters to pay higher rents?

According to a report by the NYC Comptroller’s office, which analyzed data from 2009 to 2016, rents are rising in NYC due to the “Airbnb effect.” Citywide, the number of listings on the home sharing site have increased from 1000 to 40,000 in the time period. The report analyzed what the rent increases would have been in these neighborhoods with what they actually were and attributed the difference to the Airbnb. Their analysis concluded that roughly 9.2% of the citywide rent increases were attributed to airbnb.

I am not sure if I agree with their numbers but I do see apartments that are pulled off of the regular rental market to be used solely for airbnb rentals. I even went to recent open house in Harlem where the agent mentioned that the apartment was netting the owner approximately $2k per month over the normal rental price due to posting it on the Airbnb site. Apartments like that do come off of the market. Also, on the upper west side in one luxury rental building, landlords have reportedly been looking the other way, while tenants are using the listings site to rent out their apartments to tourists and as a result, the landlord receives a higher monthly rent that they would have otherwise.

City Comptroller Report on Airbnb effect

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.

Rentals

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.

Rentals

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.

Real estate

Manhattan rental and sales market update

According to the Real Deal reports, the rental market stayed flat in February which is not that unusual given the time of the year.Full story here The sales market saw over 800 contracts signed with roughly half being co-ops and half being condos. The $1 to $2 million range continues to do well, accounting for nearly 30% of all deals.

Full coverage from The Real Deal

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.

 

Real estate

Why is the Manhattan rental market slow right now?

There are several reasons why the NYC rental market is slow right now. One reason is the time of year. January, February is not exactly the best time of the year to pull in a qualified renter. Not that many tenants want to move when it’s 15 degrees outside. So typically, we have a seasonal slowdown at this time of year. Additionally, there is a glut of apartments for rent due to expectations of landlords being too high. As apartments remain on the market for several months, either the landlord drops the price, or more often than not, they give incentives like a free month, pay the Broker fee, or even give gadgets like an Ipad. Incentives are way up compared to even the same time last year. As apartments get rented more and more with incentives, it makes the rental market appear stronger than it actually is. This fuels the expectations of other landlords who look at these rental comps when pricing their property.

I think in 2017 you will see an adjustment as landlord expectations start to come closer to the current reality.

 

Real estate

335 east 27 street NY,NY 10016 Micro units debut this summer

The zoning laws in NYC only allow apartments to be constructed of apartments of a minimum of 400 sqft but thanks to an initiative started under Mayor Bloomberg and continued under the current Mayor we have units in this building coming to the market this summer in the size of 260 to 360 sqft. The rental price will be $2000-3000 per month. Continue reading 335 east 27 street NY,NY 10016 Micro units debut this summer →