According to a report published by three Rutgers economists, land prices in Manhattan have risen 15.8% per year since 1993 and, if you go all the way back to Dutch settlement in 1626, there's been a 6.4% annual rate of return. Not a bad investment. Article can be found here. About Digs: Digs Realty is a full-service residential brokerage company specializing in home purchases and sales in...
Hi Everybody, Happy Holidays! What an amazing year 2015 has been, exceeding just about everybody’s expectations! We continue to receive a tremendous response to our offerings and are poised to significantly increase our business in 2016! In addition to keeping over $350,000 in our clients' pockets, 2015 saw the evolution of Digs, as we responded to meet the needs of our clients and the market. First,...
Let's assume you just spent $15,000,000 on a Manhattan penthouse - would you rather receive an all-expenses-paid Vegas vacation with your real estate broker or a check for $300,000 cash back at closing? Or how about a $1,200,000 Brooklyn condo - a Tiffany key ring and bracelet or a check for $24,000? It really should not take you too long to answer this question. The Wall Street Journal...
Many of my clients have different reasons why they want to buy NYC real estate. Some people make a lot of money and want to take advantage of the mortgage interest deduction to reduce their tax liability. Others look at renting as flushing money down the toilet and want their monthly payments to build equity in an appreciating asset. Many also get tired of the uncontrollable and unpredictable...
Yes, that's what I do. I pay people to buy an apartment in NYC by giving my clients a huge percentage of my commission cash back at closing. A lovely client looking for an Upper West Side pied-a-terre to be closer to his grandchildren was referred to me by a good friend, who happened to be the client's daughter's best friend. Like most of my engagements, we did not meet in person first. Rather, we...
In a talk yesterday, Larry Silverstein, the head of Silverstein Properties, who six weeks before 9/11 acquired the lease under the World Trade Center and is currently developing many of the new buildings at the site, addressed one of the burning questions on people's minds these days - where is NYC real estate going? Having seen cycles come and go during his decades in the business, Silverstein had...
Crain's published an interesting piece today trying to explain the supply crunch in Manhattan and exorbitant price of condos here. The article can be found here. Although a bit simplistic, and in some cases reliant on statistics that are not useful, this is a decent piece because it highlights one of the most important reasons why it costs so much to own real estate in Manhattan - because there is just...
When is a deal not a deal in NYC real estate? I'll help you figure it out. Picture this: John and Jane buyer are married with a child on the way. They are both hard-working professionals with advanced degrees from outstanding universities. Together, they earn a very good living by any objective measure and have been diligently saving money over the past few years for a downpayment on their first...
Normally, I don't report celebrity real estate because it is really non-news, but since The National happens to be one of my favorite bands, I decided that I had to mention it in these pages. ...and that they recorded an incredible album - High Violet - in the garage-turned-recording studio in Ditmas Park, is super cool. Would love to check out this house. Any buyers out there looking for a...
For those of you who have known me for a while, you know that I participated in my former co-op's opposition of a sliver building that would have risen next door and blocked the eastern view of dozens of apartments, and, as our attorney colorfully added during the BSA hearing, sucked the value right out of those units like a vacuum cleaner. So I am not a fan of sliver buildings. While the zoning code...
The development rights-rich lot located on the northwest corner of 69th and Amsterdam, vacated in recent years by Lincoln Square Synagogue to move to its brand new digs down the street, has found a buyer. SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan have partnered to develop the lot into a 600-foot-high luxury residential condominium tower of nearly 400,000 square feet. How tall is 600 feet do you ask? For some...
Only in Manhattan does a building's usage history read orphanage to school to convent to super luxury condos. And that is part of the beauty of this place. Old gorgeous buildings whose original uses are no longer appropriate for the location due to the changing neighborhood (like the once thriving manufacturing buildings in Tribeca and Soho) are being constantly reinvented to support new uses that...