Mortgage Assignments and the CEMA (Consolidation, Extension and Modification Agreement) Homebuyers in NYC have grown accustomed to absurdly high sale prices and an unusually long and oftentimes puzzlingly complicated process to get from contract to closing. They also have to deal with some of the highest closing costs in the country, including the so-called “Mansion Tax,” a 1% tax on the gross...
Digs Update As you know, we, at Digs, do our best to make homeownership more affordable in one of the world's most expensive real estate markets, by sharing our commissions with our buy-side clients and offering reduced commissions to our sell-side clients. This quarter, in the 11 transactions we closed, we saved our clients over $215,000 in rebates and reduced commissions. We also signed...
Important Changes to Streeteasy and Buyer Searches As you may or may not know, Streeteasy has implemented several initiatives this year which have upset the brokerage community, including selling leads and charging for rental listings - this will lead to less complete Streeteasy buyer searches. In the wake of these developments, REBNY, the trade group representing the brokerage community, has begun...
Hey everybody! I hope you’re all enjoying your summer. Digs News. What a quarter! Eight closed deals, ten signed contracts and four new listings! We are well on our way to closing over $50M in transactions this year, which would be such an incredible milestone for our company to hit in just our third full year of business! We are extremely grateful for all your support and referrals!In...
Hey everybody! I hope you’re all doing well. The Market Awakens. A very strange thing happened when 2017 came along – the market woke up. Instead of nursing a new year’s hangover and eating a greasy breakfast, the market started behaving like it not only had a good night’s sleep, but also like it just finished off a couple double espressos. Every Digs client that made a bid or sold an...
2016 was a pretty crazy year! Digs Year in Review $600,000 in Rebates. In 2016, we hit a huge milestone and eclipsed $1,000,000 in gross broker commission rebates and discounts given since we launched Digs full time in 2014 – real money that has helped make home ownership a bit more affordable for our clients and has funded value-adding renovations. 27 Closed Transactions. Our goal was to...
Buyers who require financing can improve their chances to compete with cash buyers by waiving the mortgage contingency. Most of my deals over the past few years have been cash or non-contingent. An increasing number of my deals today are contingent, but it is still a minority. This blog post discusses a bit about the mortgage contingency, what it means to waive it and the ramifications, and how to...
Here are some snippets from today’s REBNY Legal Line Question of the Week regarding buyer representation, answered by Neil Garfinkel, the head of the real estate and banking practices at Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson, LLP, and General Counsel of REBNY. This is extremely important because buyers often ask me whether they should use a buyer’s agent and if they will be prejudiced for doing so....
I hope you are all having a great time enjoying the warm weather and sunshine. The momentum continues to build for Digs as we celebrate another busy few months. We now have nine closed deals in 2016 with twelve more in contract and, as of the time of this writing, another four offers accepted. We are way ahead of where we were last year at this time and we need to give you all a big THANKS for...
Welcome to our NYC Home Buyer Guide. Due to a number of factors unique to the New York City market, the home buying process here is a particularly complicated and stressful endeavor. The below presents a description of each phase of the process and should serve as a good primer for those who are considering buying NYC real estate. Preparation. When you decide it’s the right time to start looking,...
Are you a First Time NYC Homebuyer? Last night I participated in a well-attended panel discussion to demystify the NYC homebuying process. The discussion was graciously hosted by the Cornell Club and co-sponsored by NYC Cornellians. More than 50 Cornell grads (and friends) came out to hear my advice, together with that of Justin Waiser (a residential real estate attorney with William A. Slutsky, P.C.) and...
Absolutely lovely clients of mine - a young married couple expecting their first child - just closed on their first home purchase in downtown Brooklyn and wrote me such a touching note that I am happy to share (a link is below, in PDF format.) It is expressions of gratitude like this that make what I do so rewarding - and make me feel like I have a real impact on people's lives. There's never a doubt...