Selling Your Home in a Buyer's Market

What do NYC Sellers Have Control Over?

Virtually Staged Studio Apartment

• Location? No
• Room Count? No
• Square Footage? No
• Floor? No
• View? No
• Building Amenities? No
• Ceiling Height? No

Your home is a commodity - Control the Sale process.

What sellers actually have control over:

• Price: Nothing matters more than the initial list price. Buyers and buyers’ brokers are very tuned into to marketplace valuation and the power dynamic shifts to the sellers when an attractive pricing means an apartment is seen as something to be pursued actively. If your goal as a seller is to get the most amount of net proceeds at closing in the shortest most efficient way, an attractive price is the only way to achieve that. Even in very soft markets, a well priced opportunity will attract a great deal of interest and offers and an overpriced one will not.

• Sales Site Preparation: The way a home looks, feels, smells and presents is very important. Buyers make very fast decision when they walk into a home or first see the pictures online. I’ve watched the evolution occur where more and more buyers have spent a great deal of time scrutinizing pictures and then arrive to either have their impressions confirmed or disappointed. Sellers need to invest in creating an appealing home that buyers want to live in.

Some Obvious Suggestions That Can make a Difference

• Clean and Clean! The home should be sparkling clean, not just for the first Open House but for every single showing. No dust. No clutter not a single thing that will result in a negative reaction. Sellers do well to remove into storage as much as possible.

• Depersonalize. Buyers want to imagine living in their home not yours. Sellers should remove all or most photographs, kids drawings or overly personal and items.

• Paint. A fresh coat of paint can be one of the best investments you can make to increase the value of your apartment. Keep colors neutral and light.

• Stage. This means hiring a professional to come to your home and rearrange, bring in new furniture and generally make the home as appealing as possible. Simply swapping in new towels, sheets  etc can have a huge impact. An empty apartment can be virtually staged at a lower cost that can help buyers visualize the space furnished. 

• Marketing. The Price you get is a function of the Marketing you choose. 

• Negotiating Attitude: This is a key component of a successful deal and one that is hard to convey. Years of negotiating deals has given me a sense of the tone, attitude and timeline expectation. A good broker will walk the line between keeping the pressure on to get clients to act but not scaring them away with overly aggressive tactics

More tips on increasing your home's value through home sales preparation in Manhattan Home Enhancement Guide.

Preparing for Building Workers Strike

Buildings throughout NYC are preparing for a doorman building strike. Residents are being issued security passes and strike packages and signing up for volunteer building duties.

Negotiations are currently underway between the Union Local 32B-32J and the Realty Advisory Board. The contract expires April 20, 2018.

Janitors, porters, handymen doormen and concierge attended a rally today to vote to authorize a strike if their bargaining committee doesn't reach an agreement.

Check with your building's property manager and/or resident manager for building proceedures should a strike be called. 

Living in Murray Hill | Kips Bay

Murray Hill | Kips Bay

Historic Murray Hill Landmark

Midtown, on the East Side, from 23rd Street to 42nd Street. The area runs from the East River to Park Avenue South between 23rd Street and 34th Street, and expands from the East River to Fifth Avenue between 34th Street and 42nd Street. Kips Bay runs from 23rd Street to 42nd Street, east of Third Avenue.

Murray Hill is a townhouse paradise — of 100 townhouses listed in the area in the 1892 Social Register, 60 are still standing.

Yet those single-family Murray Hill homes, many of three and four stories and some renovated with elevators and gyms to match their double Dacor ovens, rub elbows with high-rise condo towers.

In Murray Hill, the formerly business corridors of Madison and Fifth avenues are being converted into gorgeous new loft-like apartments.

The area of Murray Hill is itself named after the Quaker merchant who built his farm here in the eighteenth century when the area was green countryside — Robert Murray’s land extended from 33rd Street to nearly 39th Street!

The area of Kips Bay, which has many dining options and a movie theater, is either to the east of or the Easten section of Murray Hill, depending on who you talk to. Kips Bay Towers, two high-rise post-war condos which share a large common garden, is one of the first apartment complexes designed by noted architect I.M. Pei.

Cultural attractions abound in Murray Hill; the recently renovated Morgan Library is a historic treat. The original building, showcase to a famous banker’s collection, is a breathtaking landmark Italian-style mansion — and the Morgan Library’s Murray Hill collection includes Mozart symphonies, Gutenberg bibles, and carved Babylonian seals and amulets.

Murray Hill Townhouse  3BR Duplex For Rent

Whether you are looking for Murray Hill / Kips Bay Apartments or townhouses to buy or or rent, there will be something to suit your particular taste.

Contact me at 917-312-0924 if you're interested in purchasing an apartment or townhouse in Murray Hill or if you are thinking about selling or renting your Murray Hill/Kips Bay home.

Living in the Upper East Side | Carnegie Hill

Living in the Upper East Side

181 East 93rd Street

Buyers with conservative budgets as well as those with more to spend will find treasure troves of real estate offerings in the Upper East Side. Walk-ups and high-rises mix easily with stately townhomes, while co-ops, exposed-brick studios and modern high-end apartments present abundant housing options. 

Upper East Side real estate encapsulates the hip yet established atmosphere and sophisticated style still in demand today. Georgian, Victorian, Neo-Federal and Art Deco styles abound, and genteel, friendly living reigns.

Carnegie Hill, Upper East Side Manhattan  

Uptown on the East Side, from 86th Street to 98th Street and from Lexington Avenue to Central Park. 

The Carnegie Hill section of Manhattan, full of magnificient  townhouses  that are rarely for sale because their owners tend to hang  on to them,  has wonderful access to Central Park.

Larger buildings house prewar  apartments of six or seven rooms, known as “ Classic Sixes and “Classic  Sevens,”

 The resulting old-world  feel, even in modern condos in Carnegie Hill, shows you why  steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie picked this quiet, countrified section of  Manhattan as the place to build his ultimate family home.

Even now, Carnegie Hill feels like a grand village tucked away from  some  of Gotham’s hustle and bustle.

Whether you’re walking on Park  Avenue  with its tulip plantings, past French and Italian renaissance  apartment  buildings with doorman luxury hidden behind their ornate  façades, or  along a side street with its well-preserved brownstones,  you’ll realize  that Carnegie Hill is a truly special section of the  city. 

Shopping is varied, which makes for gracious uptown  living. Madison  Avenue offers all kinds of designer duds, even for  babies and toddlers.  Many of the local shopkeepers have been here for  decades — when you move  into your new Carnegie Hill home they’ll learn  your name.

In keeping  with the suburban feel of the area, entertainment is more  museum mile  than rock’n’roll: Carnegie Hill is home to the Guggenheim  Museum, the  Jewish Museum, and the 92nd Street Y, which offers a  variety of arts and  cultural programming.

The Coper Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution is  the only museum in the  nation devoted exlusively to historic and  contemporary design. Cooper Hewitt is located in the landmark Andrew  Carnegie Mansion on Fifth Avenue.

One Bedroon Value in Carnegie Hill

UWS New Development Update

250 West 81st Street, on the Upper West Side topped-out at 209 feet. 

The site is located on Broadway next to Zabars, two blocks from the 79^th Street Subway Station, serviced by the 1 train. Completion is expected by 2019. 

The Alchemy Properties-developed condo features just 31 apartments with two through five-bedroom units. Prices will start from $3.825 million.

250 West 81st Street 

250 West 81st Street
Living Room, rendering by Williams New York, design by Robert A.M. Stern Architects

269 West 87th St. The Chamberlain

A 39-Unit, 18 story residential condo on Upper West Side at former site of parking garage. Ownership in this building is a coop rather than a condo. “Condominium rules” and board approval is not required for purchasers/subtenants (although, similar to most condominiums in New York City, there is a right of first refusal). There is a 99 year land lease.

The Chamberlain, 269 West 87th Street

Two duplexes will fill the first two floors, followed by a full-floor unit on the second and three apartments each on the third through 11th floors. The 12th through 14th floors will host two units each, topped by three full-floor penthouses on the final three stories.

NYC New Developments

Upper West Side Townhouses on the Market

There are 45 townhouses on the market now on the Upper West Side of Manhattan

• Average price: $10,888,533
• Median price; $9,800,000
• Average price per Sq Ft: $1,763

Upper West Side, Manhattan Townhouse Market today is very desirable as single family homes and multi-family income producing rental buildings for investors. 

Morningside Heights Proposed Historic District

West 116th Street 

A proposed Morningside Heights Historic District is being considered. The Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing Tuesday receiving public support for the designation. The Morningside Heights Historic District Committee has been fighting for the past 20 years to create this district.

The proposed historic district consists of approximately 115 buildings in an area stretching from West 109th Street to West 119th Street, Riverside Drive to Amsterdam Avenue. 

From the top of a 135-foot bluff, Morningside Heights overlooks the Hudson River on one side and Harlem on the other. It is about 15 minutes from midtown Manhattan by subway.

The area that is now Morningside park was described as "inconvenient for use" by a city surveyor in 1867, meaning difficult to build property on, so it was made into a park, which was called "Morning-side park" because its east facing slope catches the morning sun.

Throughout most of the 19th century, Morningside Heights remained largely undeveloped except for scattered estates and clusters of mid-century frame houses clustered around West 110th Street (later renamed Cathedral Parkway) and modern-day Broadway.

That development history resulted in a cohesive residential district that is comprised primarily of apartment and flats buildings, along with a smaller number of rowhouses that represent the district’s earliest development.

Riverside Drive - Morningside Heights

Like much of the Upper West Side, the earliest residential development in the proposed district includes private town houses such as 625-627 West 113th Street (1897-98, C. P. H. Gilbert) and speculative rows such as 604-616 West 114th Street (1896, Frank A. Lang) that were built in the 1890s.

A cross between the Upper West Side and Harlem, Morningside Heights boasts some of the city’s most impressive architecture: Turn-of-the-century apartment buildings (many with marble lobbies grand enough to house a presidential reception) and row houses dominate. 

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is also considering designating The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine a landmark.

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine

Within the boundaries of the district, 64% of the buildings were built between 1900 and 1910. Wide streets such as Riverside Drive, Cathedral Parkway, West 116th Street and Claremont Avenue are lined with impressive apartment buildings while the narrower streets have smaller apartment and flats buildings, row houses and club buildings. Many of the district’s apartment buildings were designed by some of New York City’s prominent apartment house architects.

Riverside West End Historic District

Morningside Heights 

Morningside Heights Real Estate

Tips for Holiday Tipping

Year in and year out, we are asked about New York City holiday tipping etiquette, especially for apartment building staff. Updated annual post.

Here is my take on the situation:

So many ask, “why tip at all for someone who is merely doing his job?” We feel that an additional reward for work well done is a welcome gift. It is good manners, and customary to show one’s appreciation by giving a little something extra during the holiday as a way to say “thank you”.

Keep in mind the following factors in determining what to give:

• How pleased are you with the service
• The frequency of the service
• How long you’ve known the person
• Your budget
• The local custom
• The type of establishment (deluxe vs. moderate building)The following are ranges of suggested gratuities:

• Apartment Building Superintendents: $75 - $175 There is a wide range here ($50-$500) depending on the services offered by your building and how much the staff are at your beck-and-call during the year.
• Doormen: $25 and up Take into consideration how nice they are to you, if you get lots of visitors and deliveries, and if they actually open the door for you. To maintain a level of quality service, you need to pay for it.
• Porters: $15- $30 These people have a difficult and sometimes unpleasant job. If you’ve spilled Styrofoam packaging stuffers in your hallway or incinerator room, you owe it to your custodian to remember.
• Handyman: $15 - $30 This is an instance where your tip can be proportionate to the amount of the work you’ve requested during the year. If you merely greet the handyman in the hall, the lower end of the range should suffice. If you’ve gotten him out of bed in the middle of the night to repair a gushing water leak, ask yourself how much such a task is worth to you and show your appreciation accordingly.
• Mail Carriers: $10 - $20
• There is a long list of other people to remember during the holidays-garage attendants, personal trainers, housekeepers, babysitters, stylists, etc., and the range of what is considered appropriate is wide and left mostly to personal judgement.

Regardless of the cash value of any gift, however, it is important that a gratuity be given as a present. Include a nice card with a handwritten note and deliver it personally.

Cash is appreciated, rather than checks.In what can seem like an uncivilized city, it is important to remember to make a gesture of appreciation to those who make your life easier. The holiday season is the perfect time to do so.

New Development Update | One West End Avenue

One West End Avenue

One West End, the new residential tower rising at Riverside Center with iconic architecture by Pelli Clarke Pelli and interiors by hospitality visionary Jeffrey Beers. 

The 42-story building will be the first condominium project to come to market in Christian de Portzamparc’s masterfully-designed Riverside Center. 

Commanding a full city block between 59th and 60th Streets at West End Avenue, One West End will offer 246 light-filled one- to four-bedroom homes and several one-of-a-kind residences including two penthouses.

The Lobby Seating Area

Amenities include a 12,000-square-foot rooftop garden terrace by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, media room, game and playroom, on-site parking, 24-hour doorman and concierge and a fitness center with 75-foot indoor swimming pool and spa treatment rooms.

The Terrace and Cabanas

22 available homes range from $1,945,000 for a 919 square foot one bedroom to a four bedroom 5.5 bath, 5,371 square foot home for $19,500.

 New Development Updates

Back To Private schools on the Upper West Side

Originally published September 05, 2011

        

The Upper West Side of Manhattan is home to many private schools. 

Below are some of the finest private schools on the Upper West Side.

The Calhoon School - West End Avenue

The Calhoun School is a progressive, independent, college preparatory school located in the heart of Manhattan’s West Side. Founded in 1896, Calhoun has grown into a two-building coeducational institution with 670 students, ranging from three-year-olds to twelfth graders.

The Stephan Gaynor School West 89th and West 90th Street

The Stephen Gaynor School, a non profit organization, provides a unique educational experience for children ages 5-14 with learning differences in a nurturing environment where children are helped to reach their academic potential. At Stephen Gaynor the pattern of academic failure is broken and children are taught to become successful learners with unlimited potential.

The historic Claremont Riding Academy building was supposed to be converted to condos, the units were supposed to give the feeling of a barn. The market turned and the condo developers sold the building for $12 million to the Stephen Gaynor School, which is located behind Claremont on 90th Street. The developers bought the building for $14 million in 2007.

Abraham Joshua Heschel School

The Abraham Joshua Heschel School was founded in 1983, a new model of Jewish day school was created. An independent school offering a pluralistic approach to Jewish learning in addition to secular studies. Located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. 

Congregation B'nai Jeshurun recently purchased the building at 270 West 89th Street from the Abraham Joshua Heschel School for $20 million. The trade symbolizes growth for two Jewish institutions on the Upper West Side. B'nai Jeshurun had rented space in the building from Heschel for its Hebrew School since 1984, when B'nai Jeshurun sold the building to Heschel.

                              

Trinity School 139 West 91st Street

Founded in 1709 as a charity school supported by Anglican missionaries, the school had its first classes meet in Trinity Church at the head of Wall Street.  Its first schoolhouse was built on the church grounds in 1749, and it is the oldest continuously operating educational institution in the city of New York. The school stretches nearly the length of 91st Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues. 

Ethical Culture School - 33 Central Park West

The Fieldston Ethical Culture school is committed to academic excellence, ethical learning, and progressive education, ECF offers a rich and challenging curriculum in the arts, sciences, and humanities. A coed, nonsectarian school, it serves a diverse community of about 1,700 students from PreK to 12 on two campuses -- one in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and the other in Manhattan.

The Dwight School - 291 Central Park West

Founded in 1872, The Dwight School is a PreK-12 private international school located on Manhattan ’s Upper West Side. In 1996, Dwight became the second school in North America to offer the full International Baccalaureate (IB) program from kindergarten through grade 12. With the opening of Woodside Preschool in the fall of 2005, Dwight became the first school to offer the IB Primary Years Program for children ages 2-4. Dwight continues to be a pioneer in international education and today nearly 40 countries are represented in its student body.

Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School - 5 West 93rd Street

Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School is one of the oldest institutions in America, with a long and notable tradition of excellence as a college preparatory school. Facilities include a state-of-the-art theater to computer and science labs, five art studios, including filmmaking and photography and library for children and programs PK through 12.

West Side Montessori School - 309 west 92nd Street

West Side Montessori School (WSMS) is an independent early childhood Montessori school serving 209 students, ages 2.10 through 6. Located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City and accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools, the American Montessori Society, and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

The Mandell School - 795 Columbus Avenue.

The Mandell School is a member of ISAAGNY (Independent School Admissions Association of Greater NY) and the Parents League. The Mandell School is committed to providing a rigorous educational environment for children and their families, which through intellectual stimulation and emotional support, enables them to become responsible active citizens of the world.

K-8th grade is located at 795 Columbus Avenue. There are 3 preschool locations as well: one on 150 Amsterdam Ave. (between 66th & 67th St.).  Another preschool in the west village on 160 Christopher St. and one on the UWS (775 Columbus Ave.) that opened 75 years ago.  

Many private schools have long waiting lists and have admission requirements/procedures similar to colleges and universities. Most private schools require mandatory testing from the Educational Records Bureau (ERB) as well as interviews, school tours, and references. The best time to contact schools for brochures, applications, and procedures is after Labor Day and ERB testing forms should be completed in early October.


For More Information:

MANHATTAN PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Parents League of NY	http://www.parentsleague.org/	212-737-738

 The Archdiocese of New York              http://www.adnyeducation.org/ 1-212-691-3381

 Abacus Guide                                    http://www.abacusguide.com/

courtesy of:

Mitchell Hall, Associate Broker, The Corcoran Group

      

On the Market Now | Manhattan

ON THE MARKET NOW | MANHATTAN

Manhattan All Apartments All sizes

New Rule Disclosure for Luxury Buyers in Manhattan

One 57 
157 West 57th Street Manhattan

The Treasury Department will begin identifying and tracking secret buyers of high-end properties beginning today in Manhattan and Miami.

It is the first time the federal government has required real estate companies to disclose names behind cash transactions. Starting today, luxury buyers wanting to pay in cash will no longer be able to hide behind an LLC in Manhattan or Miami-Dade County.

In Manhattan, the initiative requires buyers in sales of more than $3 million to be reported; in Miami-Dade County, it requires reporting on sales of more than $1 million. In Manhattan, 1,045 residential sales cost more than $3 million in the second half of 2015, worth some $6.5 billion in aggregate, according to PropertyShark, a real estate data company.

According to The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Treasury "those without bank financing – may be conducted by individuals attempting to hide their assets and identity by purchasing residential properties through limited liability companies or other opaque structures."

In addition to starting in only two markets, the requirement runs from March through August. If the government finds many sales involved with suspicious money they will implement permanent reporting requirements across the country.

Residential Pools in Lincoln Square, Columbus Circle, Hell's Kitchen/Clinton

Condos with Pools in Lincoln Square | Columbus Circle | Hell's Kitchen/Clinton

Yesterday I published an updated a popular blog about residential pools on the Upper West Side. Due to the popularity of that post, today I've updated the original post Manhattan Condos with pools in Lincoln Square, Columbus Circle, Hell's Kitchen/Clinton

There are currently more pools in luxury condos and condops on the west side of Manhattan than ever before. If a building with a pool is a priority amenity for you and you want to live near Lincoln Center, Hell's Kitchen/Clinton or Columbus Circle, this post features buildings (condos, condops  and coops with pools in the Lincoln Square (Lincoln Center area), Columbus Circle,  and Hell's Kitchen / Clinton neighborhoods. 

The Copley | 2000 Broadway

(West 68th/69th Streets)

Built: 1986 

28 Floors - 163 Units

 30 Lincoln Plaza | 30 W 63rd Street

(Central Park West & Broadway)

Built: 1980 - 33 Floors - 609 Units

converted to condo: 2009

The Alfred | 161 West 61st Street

(Columbus Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue)

 Built: 1987 
37 Floors -222 Apartments

 

Time Warner Center | The Mandarin

 80 Columbus Circle | 1 Central Park
(59th Street and West 60th Street)

Built: 2004 
 80 Floors - 191 Apartments

  10 West End Avenue

(West 59th/ 60th Street)

Built: 2007 
 33 Floors - 173 Apartments

The Element | 555 West 59th St.

(Amsterdam Avenue and West End Avenue)

Built: 2007

35 Floors - 198 Apartments

One57 

157 West 57th Street

Built: Under Construction

90 Floors - 92 Apartments

Now Selling

Park Place | 301 West 57th Street
(Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue)

 Built: 1987 

61 Floors - 301 Apartments

 The Sheffield | 322 West 57th Street

Cross street: 8th & 9th Avenues

Built: 1978
58 Floors. 597 Apartments
 

Converted to condominium 2005

City Spire | 150 West 56th Street

(cross street: 6th & 7th Avenues)

Built: 1988 
72 Floors - 353 Apartments

The Orion | 350 West 42nd Street

(cross street:  8th and 9th Avenues)

Built: 2005
60 Floors - 551 Apartments

 
The Atelier | 635 West 42nd Street

(cross street: 11th/12th Avenues

Built: 2006 
46 Floors - 478 Apartments

Prices vary building to building but start around $650,000 for studios up to $20 million+ for large multi- room apartments. 

At One57 current available units range from $4.9 million for a 39th floor 1 bedroom to $58.5 million for an 83rd floor 4 bedroom with 4.5 baths. Current available units for rent at One57 range from$9,500 for a 1 bedroom on the 39th floor to $150,000  for a 7 room, 3 bedroom with 4.5 baths on the 65th floor.

Please contact me if your looking to purchase or sell a condo, condop or coop in Manhattan.

Condos and Condops with Pools on the Upper West Side

Manhattan-condos-coops-with-pools Downtown

 Listings of Manhattan condos and condops with pools

courtesy of:
Mitchell Hall, Associate Broker
The Corcoran Group
P (212) 877-6268 | M (917) 312-0924

MHALL@Corcoran.com