More On Why Property is King in Manhattan Real Estate

Some of my readers recently asked me what I meant when I said that "property is king" in the Manhattan real estate market.  Yesterday at one of my open houses, the evidence of this truth was never more powerfully displayed. I have been in the Manhattan residential real estate business for 16 years and never in that entire time have I experienced the masses of traffic that appeared at this open house yesterday.  I am not embellishing in the least when I tell you that about 150 people came through this apartment in 90 minutes!  I remain stunned.  We currently have 5 offers, 4 at the asking price, and anticipate many more before we go to a highest, best and final bid scenario.  I attribute this incredible amount of traffic and interest to one or more of the following reasons:

• The recent decline in interest rates. 
• Ultra-low Manhattan housing inventory 
• Attractively priced with very low maintenance.
• Condition of the property…it’s pristine and beautifully decorated. 
• Location of the property (72nd Street just off of CPW)
• Transparency of listing (accurate square footage, accurate photography, and video tour…see below)

So if it’s still not obvious why property is king as a Manhattan real estate agent, here’s my point.  I have been working with some of my buyers for as long as 3 years.  Some of these buyers have difficulty trusting that I’m doing a good ("complete") job for them despite all of my efforts.  On the flip side, there is this particular seller whom I met 3 weeks ago and who was referred to me by someone she deems credible with high levels of integrity.  Therefore, she trusted me to price the apartment properly and market it effectively to appeal to the broadest segment of prospective purchasers.   In this instance, her trust, my expertise (I got this one right), and most importantly, current market conditions all came together likely resulting in an efficient sale whereby the market will truly dictate the price at which this home sells. 

And some additional anecdotal evidence of a more active Manhattan real estate market:

• A studio we have been representing for 5 months has multiple offers as of last week.
• And another home that we are representing received multiple offers after yesterday’s open house.

That is precisely why PROPERTY IS KING!

Here’s a video of the home that saw 150 or more bodies pass through Sunday between 11:30am and 1:00PM.

For my regular readers, you know I hesitate to market my properties on TrueGotham (and I’m not really marketing this one here either) but I felt that in this instance a display of the video may further explain the reasons behind the huge turnout for this property.