Friday, August 31, 2012

Residential property construction permits New York City

Number of new residential property construction permits in New York City is at close to the lowest level since the 1960s according to the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY).  In the last decade 2000-2009, there were 231,228 residential housing permits issued.  The estimate for 2010-2019 is only 78,315 permits or slightly higher than the worst decade of the 1990s when about 70,000 permits were issued.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Negotiation Mistakes Everyone Makes


I was interviewed for this article in Business Insider, "Negotiation Mistakes Everyone Makes."  Bullying or being heavyhanded is one of the worst things you or your broker can do.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Beaux-Arts in the St Regis

The St Regis, a landmarked hotel in Midtown Manhattan, has received Forbes' Five Star Award for 18 consecutive years.  Here the Beaux-Arts features in the lobby is  profiled on HGTV.

The Reward

Moving in day.  This is my reward - the day the happy client, beaming with pride, moves into the new apartment.   This is what we work for and the reward at the end of the transaction journey which includes viewings, analyses, negotiations, emotions, big sums of money, hundreds of phone calls, surprises, countless emails etc.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Warren Buffett Betting On Real Estate

The Wall Street Journal reports that Warren Buffett is betting big on the continued improvement of U.S. real estate.  Housing inventory is at a 49 year low, price-to-rent ratio is back to 1998 levels and the positive momentum continues as evidenced by continued price increases.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

How To Find A Good Real Estate Agent in New York


How does a buyer find a good real estate agent in New York?  Should you select the agent with ads everywhere, the cousin of your college friend, or your former colleague who became an agent a year ago?  This is probably one of the biggest questions buyer clients have.  It becomes even more challenging for foreign buyers as their pool of agent candidates is smaller.