What makes New York City Amazing!

About two weeks ago I was reading an article about Donut Plant. Donut Plant is the promise land for the doughnut lover in all of us. Donut Plant has been featured on the Throwdown with Bobby Flay which Donut Plant won, and has gone global opening stores in Tokyo, Seoul and has plans for shops in New Orleans, Toronto, and Washington D.C. The biggest problem with Donut Plant is its proximity to where I live in Manhattan. I live on the Upper West Side and it’s located in the Lower East Side. So I can’t exactly just stop by and check it out, I have to make a decent size effort to go down there and what happens if I make it down there and the donuts are disappointing. This could make for a disastrous Saturday afternoon.

After a few hours I convinced my girlfriend to make the hike down to the Donut Plant which was exactly easier than I thought it would be. We took the subway and had to walk about 8 blocks, and about 30 minutes later we were there. I had a coconut glazed/coconut filled square shaped donut and she had some sort of chocolate cake donut with chocolate cream injected inside the donut and five dollars ready we were ready to see if the donuts were as all they were cracked up to be from this article. I would say that I was impressed with the donut. It wasn’t as much of a life changing experience as some of the people made it out to be in the article I read, but I was very satisfied. The donut had a unique taste and was very fresh and warm. About ten minutes after we started it was all over and we left the small donut shop.

The 8 block walk back to the subway station took us through Chinatown. What’s amazing about New York City is that just in the matter of a few blocks you can enter a different world. Walking through the neighborhood you see the food vendors, the ethnic grocery stores, all the signs, billboards, newspapers are in Chinese. I went from eating a donut to watching people buy fresh tofu from a street vendor and walking past restaurants with the upside down ducks hanging in the windows. It’s a lively part of town with so much energy running through it.

And then all of a sudden I’m in Little Italy. The neighborhood completely changes 180 degrees and I have a whole new set of cuisines to stare out and set of community to watch. This type of diversity in such close quarters is what makes New York City amazing. My day started out looking to eat a donut, but it turned into a tour of Chinatown and Little Italy.

Buying your first apartment in New York City

Knowledge, Understanding, and Experience

Whether you are brand new or a life long resident, buying your first apartment in New York City is going to be an experience. Hopefully that experience is filled with excitement, guidance, and anticipation of owning your own piece of the Big Apple.

When I begin working with somebody who is thinking or has decided to buy their first apartment the first thing I do is walk them through why buying a New York City apartment is going to be different than anywhere else. Educating the buyer about the difference between a condominium and co-op, board packages, walk-ups, and the jargon used to describe apartments. What’s a junior 4, classic 6, EIK, or a Pullman kitchen? I have a step by step process that will walk them through the first day all the way to the day of closing. Having an understanding of the pros and cons of buying a condominium or co-op is important to understand what the right type of apartment is for them. We have created a workbook for our buyers that acts as a guide to the entire process from A-Z in buying an apartment in New York City. It includes the time line guide for purchasing, questions to ask before purchasing, facts you want to know before looking and purchasing a Co-op, and the services we provide as a buyer’s broker.

I understand what its like to relocate to New York City. The first thing I had to figure out was what neighborhood I wanted to live in. For those relocating to Manhattan that can be a difficult decision. Each neighborhood has a lot to offer, has its drawbacks and its reasons why people love living there. The only way to choose a neighborhood is to go experience it firsthand; go walk the streets, try getting to your work from that neighborhood, go there on the weekends.

We continuously and successfully work with first time home buyers in Manhattan. We understand the importance of educating and guidance. We walk you through the entire process before you step foot into your first apartment. Buying an apartment can be scary and nerve racking; we understand that feeling because we have been there too. We have the resources and knowledge to make your experience a memorable one.

Relocating to Manhattan

Having the unique experience of starting my real estate career on the West Coast in Seattle, WA and now being an agent in Manhattan has given me the ability to help first time home buyer’s relocating to Manhattan.

I grew up on the West Coast in Seattle, WA and started selling real estate once I graduated from the University of Washington. Relocating to Manhattan from Seattle was definitely a culture shock, so I understand what its like to move the big move here. I understand the buying process in a more traditional real estate environment and then coming to an almost entirely different experience buying or renting real estate in New York City.

In Seattle, apartments meant rental apartments. If you were renting, you said you lived in an apartment. In Manhattan everybody lives in apartments, except for the small majority of townhouse owners. In Seattle, I sold my fare share of condominiums, but never a co-op. I wouldn’t even know where to go look for one if somebody asked for a co-op building. When I tell my first time home buyers that when they buy a co-op, they don’t actually own their apartment. Instead, they own shares of a corporation that owns the building they live in, they are a bit surprised at first, but not as surprised when we go look at apartments and they see the compact size of some of the spaces.

In Seattle I owned my own 2 bedroom 1 bath house. I thought my kitchen was tiny, but it was huge compared to the kitchens here. I would consider a spacious kitchen here to be maybe 8x8 with just enough room for two people to be in the kitchen at the same time. A lot of the kitchens in the studio apartments are the size of a closet. Your mini kitchen will include a two burner cook top, the refrigerator you use to have in your room in college, and a couple of cabinets, and a tiny sink. The lifestyle here is to eat out a lot more so the necessity of a full size working kitchen is not as important.

Another aspect of relocating to New York City is getting use to the jargon used specifically describing apartments. What is a 2bd, 2ba, w/d, wfp, eik, CAC, Triple Mint Apartment? The use of triple mint condition is overly used in my opinion. If an apartment has been remodeled recently it means triple mint, if it’s been well maintained it becomes triple mint maintained. The high end property descriptions are fun to read just to see how they create this fantastic beautiful language describing exceptional properties.

Because I have sold real estate in the more traditional setting I understand the point of view of the buyer relocating to Manhattan and what they understand as the conventional real estate buying process. I can bridge that gap to understanding the New York market and facilitate a smooth transition to either buying or renting a New York City apartment.

Its Official...The New York City Real Estate Downturn Begins

According to the New York Times, a crack in New York City Real Estate’s mighty armor has finally showed its ugly face. On the front page of the New York Times real estate section states, “ Even though the average price for a Manhattan apartment, at $1.5 million, is higher than it was a year ago, some New York neighborhoods have already started to feel the downward tug that has wrenched the housing market elsewhere in the nation.”

Though this is the first major article stating that a downturn has begun, we have been seeing this for awhile now. Since the credit crisis began about a year ago a lack of buyer confidence has started to grab hold and the once piping hot market began to cool off.

These outer neighborhoods or fringe neighborhoods have showed the first signs of the downturn. Harlem, East Harlem, Midtown West, and Hell’s Kitchen, have showed the biggest year over year decreases.

While the rest of the country has been facing a continued real estate downturn New York City has been the shining beacon of hope seeing appreciation that seemed like it would never end. This run up occurred because of a perfect combination of forces, a few including an easy source of credit from banks, a weak US dollar brought in oversea investors buying condominiums at significant discounts, Wall Streeters were buying properties with their huge bonuses, and the psychological impact that prices were never going to stop going up.

A credit crunch has made mortgages harder to obtain, the Wall Street meltdown is in full effect, and buyers are now watching from the sidelines to see what happens in the short term.

As always, buying Real Estate should be a long term investment, so unless you are selling, you will not know the true value of your apartment. For those people who have a strong need for a New York City apartment, you have entered a buyer’s market. The tables are turned and now you are in the drivers seat. The opportunity to buy fantastic apartments that were once financially out of reach or sold during the first open house will be ripe for the picking.

To view more information about buying in New York City:

www.nycaptinfo.com

New York City pet friendly Buildings

Pet Friendly Apartments in New York City Part I
According to Animal Fair Magazine New York City was chosen as the nation’s pet friendliest destination. According to Animal Fair Magazine, “The Big Apple is not just a tourist attraction for people anymore, but is inviting for their traveling pets too! Animal Fair is proud to present New York City the Pet-Friendliest Destination Award of 2008!”

So if New York City is so pet friendly for tourists why is it hard to find an apartment to rent or buy for the pet lovers who call New York City their full time residence?

Buying or renting an apartment in New York City can be a challenging process. Now factor in owning one or more pets and it can be overwhelming. Every building has a different pet policy, some won’t allow any pets, some will allow only cats, others allow dogs below 40 lbs, others just one dog. So what do you do if you have two 150 lb Great Danes, or if you are moving to the city and you will be bringing with you a 95 lb Rottweiler that’s been a part of your family for 10 years.

What buildings are pet friendly? Am I better off buying a co-op or condominium because I have pets? What buildings allow certain breeds? Did you know that certain New York City buildings cater to dog loving enthusiasts? Where are the most pet friendly dog parks?

If you are buying into a co-op you might have to bring your dog or dogs with you to the interview process so your pets can mingle with the pets of the current owners to make sure they get along. When renting an apartment we help our customers write a cover letter with pictures and description of their pets so the owner or management company can see the pet and get an idea of what type of factor or non-factor the pet may be.

We understand the difficulties with finding apartments that are pet friendly and navigating the maze. We know the buildings that are pet friendly in Manhattan. Contact us Now if you are looking for an apartment for you and your pet!

for more related post visit:
Active Rain Blog
NY Times Article

The Tide is Turning for New York City Rentals

"Why is it so hard to rent an apartment in New York City?" I had a young woman relocating from San Francisco ask me this question just a few weeks ago after we found her an apartment in the Upper West Side. The other statement I usually here is, "I'm so sick of looking for an apartment!" Despite the difficult nature of finding an apartment in Manhattan things might be getting a little bit easier.

As the Manhattan real estate market turns into a buyer's market, many buyers are becoming renters to wait out and see what happens to the market. Typically the summer market for rentals is very hot and properties get snatched up very quickly. Not so much this summer, properly priced units still rented quickly but more inventory sat until the prices adjusted. Now that we are into the fall season the rental market has started to slow down and the holidays now are just around the corner. Landlord are beginning to ease up on rents and offering more room to negotiate.

Many of the major management companies are offering one and sometimes two months free rent for 12-16 month long leases, offering built in gym memberships, and negotiating prices. I find that landlords would rather offer incentives, such as one months free rent, a free gym membership, compared to significantly reducing the rents because when it is time to renegotiate the rents when the leases are up they will be in a better position because the base monthly rents will be inflated. The net effective rent during the life of the lease was considerably less and when the leases are up they will expire in January to March when the rental market is seasonally stronger and the landlord will be in a better position to negotiate a new lease.

Overall this is a good time to be in the market for a rental apartment. Whether you are looking for a walk-up building in the Upper East Side, a full service doorman condominium in Union Square, or a prewar Upper West Side co-op there are plenty of opportunities to negotiate favorable terms and find the perfect apartment.

CLICK HERE TO REQUEST A "KISS YOUR LANDLORD GOOD BYE" REPORT.

So you are a First Time Home Buyer!?

This is a great time for the first time home buyer to check out the New York city housing Market for few reasons:

1) there are less serious buyers out there, more time for you to shop around
2) many sellers are willing to hear offers, this is a buyers market
3) qualified buyers who can get a loan, you can make strong offers!

First Time Buyer - Checklist for Financing Your Purchase:




Income
If you are self-employed how do the banks determine your income?
If you are changing jobs and maybe careers……….. can we still show that you are still performing similar work?
If you have a salaried job plus do some consulting work on the side……….can we include that additional income?
If you are employed in the financial industry will a bank look at your bonus to qualify you?

Credit
How does the bank determine which scores to work with and what type of scores are required for the better mortgage rates?
Do you have 2 years of credit established with credit cards, student loans, car leases or loans, mortgages or do you use your debit card for everything?
If you use the full amount of your credit lines on your credit cards and home equity lines of credit this can end up lowering your credit scores?

Liquidity
Who does the bank perceive as acceptable to give you gifts for your down payment?
What documentation must your relatives supply to verify that they are giving you a gift?
If your money is in stocks, bonds, mutual funds vs being in money market accounts will the banks calculate your liquidity differently?
401K, have you thought about using this vested equity towards your down payment?



Source:
Debra K. Bedell
Preferred Empire Mortgage Company
Loan Officer
dbedell@pemc.com
212-692-8388