The Waiting Game
The days of racing with the clock are over in NYC’s residential market (no duh), and the Times’ real estate cover story this week examines what the dynamics of a less frenzied market look like. While prices haven’t dropped much, buyers and sellers are taking their time nowadays, and a lot of people are considering…
The days of racing with the clock are over in NYC’s residential market (no duh), and the Times’ real estate cover story this week examines what the dynamics of a less frenzied market look like. While prices haven’t dropped much, buyers and sellers are taking their time nowadays, and a lot of people are considering how much rehab their properties need, or undertaking lengthy/expensive fix-ups, before listing them. Case in point:
Carolyn Walkin and her husband, Jim, wanted to move to the Long Island suburbs to find better schools for their daughters, Ava, 4, and Veronica, 2. But they were so worried about a potential recession that they did extensive research to ensure they could sell their three-family brownstone on Henry Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, for the price they wanted. Ms. Walkin spent about five months and had conversations with at least seven brokers before choosing Terry Naini of Prudential Douglas Elliman. Before that, she had also researched auction houses and considered selling the brownstone without a broker. Even though they finished an extensive renovation two years ago, they added details like art on the walls to attract sellers. Within one hour of their first open house, they received an offer for their asking price of $2.5 million. But Ms. Walkin didn’t relax until the paperwork was signed.
Not a bad outcome, but perhaps indicative of the high anxiety in the air these days.
Responding to a Less Heated Market [NY Times]
Photo by TrespassersWill.
There are houses all over LI for sale just sitting there with no interest from buyers at all.
Jersey and the rest of the burbs have at least another 20% to go before they hit bottom.
No one with half a brain is moving to a suburb right now.
You know, I think I have identified what The What is and his motivation.
He is a bitter homeowner (or broker) out in the ‘burbs of Long Island or Jersey who is trying to convince everyone investing in NYC is a bad idea.
This is the first time we’ve seen him defend living outside in the suburbs, and he’s doing so ardently.
If his motives are to warn everyone about bad real estate investments, then why would he claim investing in the suburbs where all the foreclosures are, is a some really good idea?
It’s illogical therefore it’s all fake.
Stick to Jersey, tWhat. Nobody is going to follow you there.
2:12
Fact: NYC (brooklyn and the other boroughs included) is the most expensive city in North America. I can show you data that compares it directly to San Francisco, Chicago, LA and other expensive cities. NYC comes out on top. Many sources on the web – from mercer to the economist intelligence unit to salary.com and so on and on and on
Where is your proof that it is not?
We have a much bigger house here in Brooklyn than we could get for the same money in Los Angeles.
The problem with all those stupid indexes and stats on home values is they “average” everything and it’s useless. Los Angeles county is massive. It averages out values for the houses way the heck out in some dumpy crap area by the airport with houses in Beverly Hills. Sorry, I’m not living next door to the airport or in South Central L.A. in a 900 square foot mud hut.
If I were to buy a historic house in funky Los Feliz or Echo Park, which would be the closest comparison to the neighborhood in Brooklyn we bought into, for $1 million we could get maybe a cute but tiny 1500 square foot 2BR 1BA house. If I were to buy a 1700 square foot 3BR house in West Hollywood in a little nicer area, that costs $1.3 million minimum even during this recession.
Agree completely with 10:28. Folks, wake up and smell the coffee. Ignorance is not bliss. Read
Timothy F. Geithner’s (President and Chief Executive Officer of the NY Fed) speech from last week. Exercise some common sense and critical thinking. Have you heard about Carlyle Capital’s margin calls? Do you think they were the only one’s pursuing their trading strategy? The only reason they are news mis because it is a publicly traded vehicles. Many hedge funds are in the same boat, but dealing with their issues privately. The fact that they too are not on the front page of the WSJ and NYT doesn’t make their troubles any less real. Majority of folks here have no clue how desperate things will soon be.
That’s a stupid study, 2:00.
They use Manhattan…not NYC!
I don’t see them using Beverly Hills. They use LOS ANGELES!
New York City is all 5 boroughs. Take the WHOLE city and it’s not as expensive as San Francisco and barely more than LA.
Think before you cut and past asinine data please.
See some data below…many other data points i could share. The fact is that NY is the most expensive North American city. It ranks around 15th – 20th globally when you factor all the costs in $s…the weak dollar makes NYC seem like a bargain relative to Moscow etc.
As 1:52 points out, NYC is a world city…but so what. That doesn’t make it any less costly to live in.
Priciest U.S. towns
The five most expensive places to live in the United States
City Annual cost Percent above mean
Manhattan $146,060 137.9%
San Francisco $122,007 98.7%
Los Angeles $117,726 91.8%
San Jose $108,506 76.8%
Washington, D.C.$102,589 67.1%
Source: Runzheimer International
The study considered what a typical family of four earning $60,000 annually spends and compared the costs of maintaining that lifestyle in more than 300 U.S. locations of comparable quality.
In Manhattan, that family would need to spend $146,060, 137.9 percent more than in the average American town. This slice of the Big Apple topped runner-up San Francisco by more than $24,000 to earn the dubious distinction of being the nation’s priciest place.
honolulu and san francisco are more expensive.
and neither is a world city.