It Takes Know-How to Win a Bidding War
It Takes Know-How to Win a Bidding War
NEW YORK — The 2012 Olympics are in full swing in London and the frenzied pitch of the New York City market brings to mind its competitive spirit (not including badminton).
Buyers are feeling a sense of urgency as multiple bids and bidding wars are becoming increasingly common. Inventory is dwindling as the number of reported transactions soar.
Although mortgage rates remain at historic lows, home prices are beginning to rise.
In a heated market such as we currently find ourselves in, the slightest error can mean the difference between gold and going home. Using an experienced sales agent is more important than ever, and having all your paperwork in order may help catapult you to the top of the buyer’s line when putting in an offer.
There is no instant replay, do-over, or second chances when it comes to negotiating for that perfect home. Be smart and make sure you have the best representation there is.
A true Olympian never stops training for the gold and seasoned real estate professionals never stop perfecting their negotiating skills. The link below will give you a list of negotiating errors that buyers and their inexperienced brokers make.
Don’t let this happen to you.
When you are ready to buy or sell a property in the New York area, reach out to me and we can win gold together.
BrickUnderground: Top negotiating mistakes of buyers, and their brokers
Brooklyn Brownstones Drawing More Buyers
Park Slope Brownstones (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
NEW YORK — Along with the overall return of the real estate market throughout the New York metropolitan area, brownstones in Brooklyn have had a particularly strong recovery as buyers put an ever-increasing premium on square footage.
“It is amazing,” says one real estate broker quoted in the New York Times story, titled “Brooklyn’s Gold Rush.”
“It is a level of activity I have not seen since 2006-2007,” she adds. “There are so many people looking for brownstone buildings, and there is just no supply.”
Many brownstones are being purchased to be used as single-family residences, as well as multi-family homes, which have been on the rise in recent months.
The top Brooklyn neighborhoods, according to the article, were:
- Boerum Hill, with a median price of $1.7 million, up 60 percent from last year.
- Park Slope, with a median price at $1.45 million, almost 20 percent higher.
- Red Hook, with a median price of $825,000, up 73 percent, although only a few properties were for sale.
As always, if you’re looking to buy, sell or rent a home in New York, especially in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens, please let me know.
Hot NYC Area Condos: Gone In One Hour
Hot Condos: Gone In One Hour (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
NEW YORK — Condo sales are heating up across the metropolitan area, so much so that pausing for lunch might mean missing out on a dream home.
A couple who mulled two condominium apartments for sale in a Hoboken, N.J., development while grabbing a bite to eat returned an hour later to find both of their options already in contract.
“People feel like now is the time to buy and they aren’t isolated to one building in Hoboken,” Toll Brothers CEO Douglas Yearley said in a May 23 conference call with analysts. “Confidence is up. The interest rates are there and they’ve been waiting so long to move on with their lives that they came out this spring.”
The Pennsylvania-based luxury homebuilder a 47 percent increase in quarterly orders for new homes. (Sales of existing homes recently neared a 2-year high, as well.)
The story, reported by Bloomberg Businessweek and other news organizations, stands out because it reflects the turnaround made in the New York real estate market.
While Hoboken is still on the other side of the Hudson River, as far as I know, it resembles what has been happening in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens over the past couple of months with increasing regularity.
And it isn’t idle talk.
Bloomberg Businessweek reports: “In Hoboken, Toll Brothers increased prices six times since it began selling apartments last spring in the 157-unit 1450 Washington at Hudson Tea, where prices now range from $450,000 to $1 million, said Todd Dumaresq, marketing manager for Toll’s City Living division. The company has sold 108 units in the building and is now selling about 12 homes a month, he said.”
Toll Brothers offers such developments as The Touraine in Manhattan, 2 Northside Piers in Williamsburg and 205 Water Street in DUMBO, as well as three condo buildings in Hoboken. (Anecdotally, buyers I’ve worked with have been interested in a couple of these condos, only to find that they were sold before we’d had a chance to view them — one reason to pursue apartments aggressively.)
For those paying attention, the signs are adding up.
Recently, Time magazine took note of another feature of a strong sales market: Bidding wars.
As always, if you’re looking to buy, sell or rent a home in New York, please let me know.
Bidding Wars Make a Comeback
Bidding Wars Make a Comeback (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
NEW YORK — Signs of a rebound in the real estate market were plentiful this week, but another element spoke volumes about how real it was: The return of the bidding war.
It was this detail in a Time magazine story, titled “Why This May Be the Ideal Time to Buy Real Estate,” that led me to reblog it almost immediately after reading it.
The blog entry covered much of the same ground I addressed in recent posts.
“If you were thinking about making a move on a piece of property, right now is possibly the best time. You can still take advantage of low prices in most places around the country, and mortgage rates are at once-in-a-lifetime record lows: 30- and 15-year fixed mortgages are around 4% and 3%, respectively,” wrote Martha C. White.
What caught my attention, however, is to see reporting on something that has been happening with increasing regularity.
“Many would-be homebuyers are surprised to find that one fixture of the bubble era is back: the bidding war,” according to White.
In Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, my colleagues and I have been seeing this often enough in condo and co-op sales — so much so that it isn’t surprising anymore.
Sales of investment properties and vacation homes have also been on the rise, which correspond to more affordable mortgage rates and a sense of confidence in the economy.
“For Americans who either have cash to buy or a credit score good enough to obtain a mortgage, there’s still time to get a killer deal on real estate, but that window may be closing,” the article concludes. “If your finances can support it, now appears to be a great time to buy.”
As always, if you’re looking to buy, sell or rent a home in New York, please let me know.
Why This May Be the Ideal Time to Buy Real Estate
NEW YORK — Several important signs point to renewed strength in the real estate market across the United States, but this article addresses something we’ve been seeing in locally for the past couple of months now: “Many would-be homebuyers are surprised to find that one fixture of the bubble era is back: the bidding war.”
Home Sales Approach Two-Year High
Existing Home Sales Near Two-Year High (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
NEW YORK — It’s not your imagination: The real estate market is hot again.
Sales of existing homes grew almost to the highest rate in two years, while prices saw the biggest increase since 2006.
Last month, existing U.S. home sales increased 3.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.62 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.
That rate was the highest since May 2010.
Anecdotally, sales activity has picked up in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, as previously forecast. I expect the data to show significant gains when it becomes available.
At the same time, home resale prices nationwide soared to a median of $177,400 in April, up 10.1 percent from a year earlier.
“That was the biggest year-over-year increase since January 2006,” according to Reuters.
Mortgage rates, too, continued their downward trend.
The average rate for a 30-year loan dropped to 3.79 percent, a Freddie Mac survey showed.
That was even lower than the record low set earlier this month.
As always, if you’re looking to buy, sell or rent a home in New York, please let me know.
UPDATE: The data gets a boost from federal statistics, which show similar gains among new homes.
The Real Deal writes, “Sales of new single-family homes rose 3.3 percent month-over-month in April 2012 and 9.9 percent year-over-year, according to a release issued by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. April saw new home sales at a seasonally adjusted rate of 343,000 units.”
Mortgage Rates Hit Historic Low 3.84 Percent
Mortgage Rates Hit Another Historic Low (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
NEW YORK — Mortgage rates dropped to another all-time low this week, providing another stimulus to the strengthening housing market.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage was 3.84 percent, according to survey results released by Freddie Mac.
That’s the lowest rate ever since long-term mortgages were introduced in the 1950s, even below the previous record low set in February.
At that rate, a $100,000 loan would mean monthly payments of about $468 per month.
Meanwhile, sales activity in the past few weeks suggest that the robustness of the condo market in Manhattan and Brooklyn recently predicted was taking hold.
Brooklyn’s Allure: The Possibility Of $625 Rent In NYC
NYC Apartment Agent – A View of Manhattan From Brooklyn (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
NEW YORK — As rents climb in Manhattan to all-time highs and the costs of Brooklyn apartments are also on the rise, one woman manages to keep her payment around $600 per month.
Sophia Cosmadopoulos, an art therapist, was featured in The New York Times for her ability to keep her rent affordable, embarking on an ever-elusive quest throughout the great New York City county of Kings, better known to the world as Brooklyn.
“They’re not glossy, and they’re kind of falling apart,” she told the Times. “But I’ve always valued what I could get out of New York, more than where I lived.”
After recounting a surprise that followed the partial collapse of the bathroom ceiling in her current apartment, Cosmadopoulos took a positive spin on her situation.
“It’s nice to live in an apartment where you have stories,” she said.
A little optimism is a great thing, maybe more so if you’re a New Yorker.
Related
NYC Rent Hits An All-Time High
Downtown Manhattan. (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
NEW YORK — It finally happened.
After a recent upward trend over the past several months, the average rent in Manhattan hit a record $3,418 — surpassing the previous high, set in 2007.
Writes The New York Times:
“The last time rents shot up in a similar fashion, they were tied to a strong economy, low unemployment and booming business on Wall Street.
“But this spring, Manhattan rental prices seem to be divorced from the larger economic picture. While the city has added jobs in recent months and growth in businesses like technology has helped make up for losses in the financial sector, much of country is still struggling.”
Brooklyn rents are a similar state, too.
In case you were wondering, that’s about six shares of Apple stock.
It’s no wonder more people who are able to do so are looking to buy.
If you decide to look for a new place to live, take a moment to look over tips for avoiding Craigslist apartment rental scams.
Or use a reputable broker.
Please feel free to share your feedback on how you’re coping with the rental rates in the comments below.
A Beautiful Brooklyn Mansion Gets On Facebook
A Beautiful Brooklyn Mansion Gets On Facebook (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
It just became a little easier to find your way to one of the most exquisite brownstones in Brooklyn.
The impeccably renovated Clinton Hill mansion at 280 Washington Avenue, whose bedrooms were recently added to AirBnB, is now on Facebook.
Ever since owners of the 1887 brownstone Jessica and Doug Warren opened up their breathtaking home to travelers, I have been excited to help get the word out.
“I love the idea of meeting people from around the world and having the opportunity to show them Brooklyn,” Jessica told me in September. “As you know, I love Brooklyn. When you think about how much press Brooklyn gets worldwide and how many visitors we get, there really are few hotel options. I was in Bangkok and found, in my room, a big glossy Australian magazine that had a four- or five-page article about Brooklyn restaurants! People are coming from far and wide.”
On the home’s new Facebook page, that love of Brooklyn is evident.
I am happy to see that the Warrens, who have been magnificent hosts at various parties over the past several months and a lovely intimate dinner, are having a great experience in sharing their stunning home with visitors.
As far as I know, Jessica’s bathtub, shown below, is still off-limits.
Related
A Bathtub to Behold (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
NYC Apartment Agent 