Check out this post from BoingBoing suggesting that perhaps sprawl is making us fat. Much like other urban environments, New York and specifically Manhattan is a real walking city. I always wondered why there were so many more svelte pedestrians in Manhattan versus my "original" hometown of Baltimore. Now I see. And don’t tell me that LA is a driving city and is full of skinnies too…we all know why everyone is thin out there…METH…just kidding!
Teri Karush Rogers writes for The New York Times about the inconvenience that often occurs way before the packing stage of a move.
WHEN most people consider the pain of moving, they think of the actual move: cardboard mountains, insubordinate packing tape, back strain and bewildered children.
But for many, the stress is nothing compared with the torture of living inside the place they are selling. Tethered indefinitely, they must endure invasion (and banishment) at an hour’s notice, countless rejections by strangers, scrutiny of voyeuristic neighbors and, more frequently these days, the erosion of their own expectations.
She goes on to point out that vacating a property for showings, decluttering, and being thick skinned regarding feedback and the overall number of showings is often imperative in procuring a buyer at a reasonable price.
Of all the points that are made regarding the inconvenience when selling a home, I think the most important and perhaps the one that will generate the greatest return is decluttering. Even the buyer who thinks they have incredible "vision" is challenged by seeing a space that is packed full of furniture, toys, and personal brickabrack. Most buyers don’t have this vision at all and for those that do, they will likely use the clutter to negotiate a better price suggesting that the apartment "needs work."
Leaving your home for showings is also very important as buyers are less likely to provide honest feedback when the seller is present. Most don’t want to offend and are more likely to overstate the positive than share anything negative about the space.
In today’s market, a flexible showing schedule is also helpful so not only must you leave the home, but you should be prepared to leave it on short notice if your agent believes they have a viable purchaser which leads me to another important point…
Understand that in a market with increasing inventory/choices for buyers, most agents aren’t interested in wasting their time showing to someone who isn’t a "real" buyer. Furthermore, buyers and their agents will often tell you whatever you want to hear to schedule an appointment at their convenience. And although I believe that you should accomodate any and all requests for showings, remember that it is impossible for your agent to know absolutely whether or not someone is "THE" buyer for your home. Most sellers seem to be willing to show as much as needed to procure the right buyer. That said, as time passes, patience grows thin.
When my wife and I sold our last co-op, it was such an inconvenience but in the end well worth the aggravation of removing and storing all of my son’s toys and our personal belongings. During open houses, I packed the stairwell (leaving room for egress of course) with everything that I thought negatively impacted the overall aesthetic of the apartment. I also touched up paint and made sure beds were made, clothes were hung, countertops were empty, and bookshelves weren’t stuffed. I truly believe that because of these actions we sold at a higher price and quicker than if we had done nothing.
Lastly, if you are a seller who absolutely resists these tips and advice, understand that your agent is not a magician. The perception of your property will affect your bottom line. If you are a buyer with vision, you may actually reap the benefits of the seller who refuses to prepare their home for showing.
Brian Carter writes for the New York Press that the real estate industry not only has a bad reputation with the public, but some of the reputation may come from agents’ self loathing.
I recently spoke with the manager of a very well known and respected real estate company. He was speaking specifically about agents when he said the business had a self-esteem problem. Apparently, real estate agents aren’t very proud of what they do for a living. It was refreshing to hear, as overcompensation generally comes with the territory. Rarely does anyone inside the industry make such obvious or honest remarks. Most will tell you it’s a difficult but rewarding job—the safe answer. Some admit to loving it. I try to avoid these types. While I imagine others aren’t happy about it at all. But if agents overall are normally a little defensive, it’s for good reason. Last summer a survey conducted by Harris Interactive measured the public’s perception of the most prestigious occupations. Real estate agents ranked dead last.
Now this is one of the very reasons that True Gotham was born! To increase credibility and agent reputations in the industry. The single most distasteful part of the industry in my opinion is the lack of respect that so many have for it. In the not too distant past, I would often avoid conversations at cocktail parties that involved discussions about occupation and when all else failed I would often spin the fact that I’m a real estate agent to make it seem much more important than it is.
By the way, I do believe that assisting someone with often the largest asset in their portfolio is somewhat important. Here I go again, trying to convince myself that what I do is so incredibly important.
I will say that the reaction of some when they learned of my profession was anything but warm and frequently wreaked of disdain. That happens a lot less frequently as I no longer make apologies for what I do. Some days, I love what I do. Other days I hate it. And mostly I’m satisfied with how I spend my days assisting buyers and sellers with transactions that often bring quite a few headaches for all parties involved.
Brian says he isn’t exactly sure where all of the hatred comes from and I would like to take an educated guess. First of all, the barrier to entry in the industry is exceedingly low, making it possible for anyone to get a license to sell real estate. Public perception of real estate agent income, particularly over the past 10 years, is that everyone is getting rich who sells real estate… not true as this business week online post points out. These two factors are definitely breeding grounds for resentment but as my regular readers know, I don’t for one second believe that public distrust of the real estate industry comes from nowhere. That low barrier to entry and the fact that most never longed to sell real estate but rather chose it as a second or third career or even "fell into it" due to a lay off or failed first career, has resulted in a sleaze factor that continues to permeate the industry. The very structure of the industry (broker/agent relationships, commission structure, and in New York City, the lack of an MLS) results in unethical behavior by some who can’t pay their mortgage, rent, car payment, or even dinner if they don’t "close a transaction." Desperation in any industry makes people do crazy things that are often unethical and downright dishonest.
The good news… the industry seems to be changing for the better, albeit very slowly in New York City. Property information is becoming more accessible to the public via the creation of sophisticated, web based companies like Zillow and Trulia. The real estate boom of the past decade has brought some incredibly honest and intelligent people to the industry who are raising the bar for everyone. And perhaps most importantly, the more savvy consumer seems to have totally lost their patience for the "used car salesman" type agent who has everything but his/her customer’s best interest in mind.
Urban Digs has a couple of interesting posts regarding Agency Disclosure and the "buyer beware" policy that New Yorkers are all too tired of hearing about. It’s often difficult to determine exactly for whom a real estate agent is working. Disclosing their fiduciary responsibility prior to working with a prospective customer should be a legal requirement in my opinion and not such a gray area. A few observations:
- Agency Disclosure only applies in New York to 1-4 family residences thereby omitting the majority of NYC housing stock. So forget about any agency disclosure if you’re buying a condo or co-op.
- In theory this "disclosure" is supposed to protect buyers but since it doesn’t apply to most New York City buyers, where is the protection?
- Why can’t the Department of State make this disclosure applicable to all property that changes hands? Doesn’t seem that difficult to me.
Curbed put a question to the Property Grunt.
I am a first time homebuyer. I went to an Open House in Brooklyn and really liked the apartment I saw. I offered the full asking price for the unit. The broker got back to me and said he spoke with the seller and said it’s a go and even recommended some lawyers for me to use. But I discovered that the following Sunday he held another Open House with a HIGHER asking price! I was never notified of this. While this isn’t illegal I certainly find it to be highly unethical and certainly not a practice recommended by REBNY. What should I do? Please keep in mind that nothing has been signed but I do have e-mails of correspondence.
The Property Grunt has an interesting response with a lot of insight.
My two cents: it’s a sleazy move to accept an offer and then advertise another open house at a higher price. But, unfortunately it’s not illegal in New York.
You see, in the rest of the country, binders are used to “lock up” a deal so that these antics are less likely to happen. In New York, there is no legally binding deal until a contract is fully executed (signed by all parties and escrow deposit actually deposited). The lack of binders paired with greedy sellers and agents creates an atmoshere for this type of behavior that can sour a lot of buyers on the whole experience.
For the record, if the agent in this instance was indeed thinking that they had a “direct” deal with no buyer’s agent, it is much more likely that the seller insisted on the price increase and the agent was afraid to notify their “direct” buyer about this for fear of pissing them off and losing that big commission. All too often, agents let that commission dictate their behavior in a transaction. A simple phone call to the buyer explaining that the seller was insisting on another open house at a higher price may have simply lit a fire under the buyer to get the contract signed ASAP. My bet is that the phone call wasn’t made because the agent didn’t want to jeopardize the precious direct deal and both sides of the commission.
Of course, the agent could have also strongly suggested to the seller that this behavior could and may very well result in the current buyer walking away from the deal.
All of that said, all of this B.S. is all too often part of New York City real estate transactions. And as one of the commenters stated, it is possible that the next transaction would have a element of sleaze, incompetence, or unethical behavior as well. It sucks! But, as “blahblahblah” posted on the Curbed site, if you love the apartment, forget about how big of an asshole the seller and/or the agent may be and sign that contract ASAP. Also insist that the seller sign and return the contract by a specific deadline (24 -48 hours). Complete your board application, go to your interview, and move in. The shenanigans that you had to go through will mean absolutely nothing to you once you have moved into your new home and only you can guaranty that you will NEVER have to deal with that agent or seller again.
- This is hilarious. Curious about how buyers, mortgage lenders, tax assessors and others see your home? Guess there’s also a mini-lesson here. Those different perceptions? That’s precisely why I ask my sellers to be absent from all showings of their property. When the seller is present, rarely do you get honest feedback. When the seller is absent, you often get brutally honest feedback, bordering sometimes on nasty, that elucidates precisely the differences in perception illustrated by these photographs. Love the appraiser and tax assessor’s perspective too but in NYC, I often think the appraiser is more in line with the tax assessor… at least in this example. (Via Growabrain)
- Property Grunt wonders how much values can be dragged down when a fancy new building across the street ruins the view. In my experience, it can have a significant damaging effect… during construction. But once a high-end building full of $2,000-a-square-foot condos opens across the street, it can even buoy values in the surrounding blocks too. My advice to owners: don’t panic and sell during construction. I have seen this many times through the years. Prospective purchasers rarely have the vision to see past a vacant lot or construction that is underway–but almost always the finished product is less obtrusive than what we imagine and has less of an effect on prices than we had imagined. Often times, the new construction has a ripple effect and aids in increasing values of properties in the immediate vicinity.
- Everyone thinks real estate professionals are in the easy money, but check out these numbers. In 2004, the median income for people with two years’ experience or less was $13,000. (Via Growabrain)
New York’s economy is doing so well that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has reportedly decided to cut some taxes. Namely, he will eliminate the city’s portion of the sales tax (resulting in 4.375% tax instead of 8.375%) on all clothing purchases. He has also decided to provide (at least for this year) a 5% decrease in property taxes that will amount to about $322 per year for a condo owner and $160 per year for owner’s of single family homes.
After his painful property tax increase of 18.5% in his first term, this seems like small beans to me.
Now I understand that a $750 million influx of cash from property owners will further stimulate our economy but for most individual property owners, this “rebate” isn’t going to affect anyone’s bottom line. It just seems like $750 million would be better invested in schools or our stressed transportation system.
Nevertheless, the reason for this tax cut is because the perception of the local economy is that it is doing exceedingly well. No argument here, but heck, according to this article, city officials are suggesting that the city’s property values increased by 19% last year. From where in the world did this number come? Perhaps one of my economist readers could elucidate because I just don’t see that. Jonathan Miller, where are you?
For 46 years, Harry Belafonte and his family lived in a beatiful home on West 74th Street. (It sold this past October for close to $12,000,000. )
I actually visited the home when it was being marketed and must tell you that it was indeed “steeped in history.”
Among one of the most fascinating stories about the home is that Mr. Belafonte purchased the entire building 46 years ago and converted it to a co-operative because he didn’t want to deal with a racist landlord. The apartment showed like a museum (much warmer of course) with incredible displays of artwork and stories to go along with each room. One in particular that I found fascinating was that Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta were apparently frequent guests of the Belafontes. Some of Mr. King’s original speeches (written in pencil, complete with edits) were in fact framed and displayed in the very room in which they slept.
(File photo/Wikipedia This photo is protected by the GNU Free Documentation License.)
Dracula’s castle is for sale. It’s $78 million. The Associated Press reports that it gets some significant foot traffic, too:
The castle, perched high on a rock and surrounded by snowcapped mountains in southern Transylvania, is one of Romania’s top tourist attractions and is visited by 400,000 people each year.
No word on how many bathrooms, or when the kitchen was last updated.
What would that kind of money get you in New York City? A measly $70 million is the asking price for the three-story penthouse at the Pierre.
