We Have Declared Our Independence
Today's exciting news via our press release. We were also featured today in The Real Deal. CONTACT: Jennefer Witter The Boreland Group Inc. 718.543.1503 jwitter@theborelandgroup.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THE HEDDINGS PROPERTY GROUP DECLARES INDEPENDENCE Firm is New York’s Newest Residential...
Market Heats Up? and Your Building's No Pet Policy May Be Costing You a Fortune
The ramifications of the debacle in Greece and a wild day on Wall Street yesterday have yet to be seen but word across the real estate industry seems to be that the Spring market has heated up...for now. Now although...
Sellers More Realistic Than Buyers in Today's Manhattan Real Estate Market
As far as who is more realistic in terms of their expectations in today's Manhattan real estate market, the scale has definitely tipped toward sellers. Before you get all crazy on me, here me out. I'm not AT ALL suggesting...
The Sting of Selling Today If You Bought At The Peak
A colleague of mine recently received a phone call from a seller whom he is representing with a disturbing question. His home is currently in contract with a prospective purchaser and he asked, "Should I reach out to my co-op...
Super Quick Manhattan Market Snapshot
A lot going on behind the scenes here at TrueGotham and stay tuned for some very exciting news. In the meantime, in an effort to stay connected to my readers, here's a quick snapshot of my current business: Buyer traffic...
Home Sellers Fighting a New Fight
With all the negative press that the Manhattan real estate market is getting these days and a veritable stalemate occurring between buyers and sellers, Manhattan property owners are shifting their perspectives on how to best sell their homes in a...
Manhattan Market Reports: Link-O-Rama
Well better late than never. Here is a list of links to all of the Q1 2009 Manhattan Residential real estate reports and absolutely no surprises. Volume has dropped by more than half and median prices of resales are down...
Confusion Abounds in Manhattan Real Estate Market
The current Manhattan residential real estate market couldn't possibly be more confusing. I'm not just talking about buyers either. All the players in the game are trying to make some sense of the market as a whole. Here's what I'm...
Lacking the Inspiration to Blog in Changed Market
I'm absolutely embarrassed that I have not blogged since February 25 and this is without a doubt the longest dry spell since this blog's inception. No coincidence that it is also the most challenging market that I have seen in...
Is There Anything To "Catch" For Manhattan Real Estate Bottom Fishers?
As media reports continue to swirl about our struggling economy paired with the likelihood that it is going to get worse before it gets better, some prospective, yet reluctant purchasers continue to circle Manhattan real estate just watching asking prices...
Some Still Have Tainted Perception of Real Estate Biz
The impetus for this post comes from a recent comment thread at StreetEasy entitled Doug Heddings now pricing all new listings 25% below comps which was obviously born from my recent post Manhattan Real Estate Market Snapshot and A Broker...
Manhattan Real Estate Market Snapshot and A Broker Blogger's Dilemna
For those agents/brokers out there who are thinking about starting there own real estate blog; think long and hard before you take the leap. Evidenced by my lack of posts as of late (the last all the way back on...
How's the Market?
My friend Noah at UrbanDigs wrote an excellent piece today on the Buyer/Seller Disconnect (a MUST read for both buyers and sellers in today's market!) and I couldn't resist sharing my 2 cents. So after a lengthy comment on his...
A Brave New World in Manhattan Real Estate
Yes I'm still alive! Just in case you were wondering. It has been almost 2 weeks since my last post on TrueGotham and the longest streak without a post since this blog's inception. The lack of time to post blog...
Sellers have 4 Options in Declining Market
If you're selling your home in a declining market, you have 4 options to consider if your home is not selling: Aggressive Pricing: Pricing the property aggressively below competition will drive home the perception of value to prospective purchasers. Rent:...
Less Emotion in Real Estate Market as Buyers Seek Value
When I entered the Manhattan real estate market 16 years ago this week, I was greatly attracted to the personal and emotional elements of the residential real estate transaction. And over the past 16 years, I have seen the market...
Current Real Estate Market Requires More Patience
If you're one of the few sellers out there who has such a uniquely special (is that redundant?) property to bring to market, then this post isn't for you because "special" properties that are priced right continue to be snapped...
Real Estate Auctions Gaining Steam Nationwide
As housing markets across the country flounder, many owners and developers are turning to auctioneers to help sell their languishing properties. Alison Gregor of The New York Times writes today that Auctions Are Aiding Sales in a Weakened Market. It...
Deal Flow Increases And So Does Effort
I'm sure that regular readers of TrueGotham have noticed that the number of blog entries here has decreased significantly over the past several weeks. I'm a broker who blogs, not a blogger who occasionally sells a home so my priority...
Grossly Overpriced Property...The Kiss of Death
If you're a real seller, this is NOT the market to grossly overprice your property. Surprisingly though, I would have to say that as many as 50% of the marketing presentations I have done in the past couple of months...
Marketing Your Home in a Softening Market
There is no telling yet from actual numbers as to which direction the Manhattan real estate market is heading but with inventory increasing in some areas and volume down from the same period last year, some believe we are in...
Carnival of Real Estate #87
CoRE is up at Reachd. Check it out with a particular nod to Bad Pricing Strategies That Will Likely Come Back To Bite Sellers In The Arse! from Silicon Valley Real Estate Guide....
Amateur Speculators and Investors Influence Housing Markets
Frequent readers of TrueGotham know my feelings about the national housing market. There is NO SUCH THING as a national housing market! I have repeatedly defended the fact that the country and even each local market is made up of...
Pricing Remains Priority to Procure Buyers
Most of my readers know how important I feel proper pricing is when selling your home. But don't just take my word for it. My friend Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel Appraisers and blogger of Matrix appeared last week on...
What Does A 6% Commission Get Me? (Part I of II)
Long time readers of TrueGotham know that although I feel like a 6% commission is well worth it when you hire the right person to represent the sale of your home (podcast), I'm also one who believes we will see...
Manhattan Real Estate Market...High Anxiety!
As debates take place among the nation's leading economists as to the health of our economy and the housing markets (plural because they are local), the anxiety here in Manhattan continues to rear its ugly head. All parties involved in...
Let Your Broker/Agent be Your Point-Man
After 16 years of successfully negotiating deals for both sellers and buyers, I do know a little bit about the "art of the deal." What I mean by this is that an experienced agent often understands the idiosyncrasies of the...
Manhattan Real Estate: Patience Can Be A Virtue But Ego Isn't
Manhattan is full of BIG egos. Some would say that many of those egos help to pump life into the heart of this incredible metropolis. Perhaps there is an element of truth to that but a big real estate agent...
Getting The Most From Your Real Estate Agent
I actually have a moment to breathe...and blog today and I'm inspired by an email that I received from one of my buyers this morning regarding our property tour on Friday and 4 open houses on Sunday (I have removed...
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....
Purchasing in a New Development: Reader Questions
I am frequently emailed specific questions from TG readers to whom I directly respond. Occasionally, the questions are such that I believe the responses would be helpful to all TG readers. The comment forum of the blog is also a...
I Won't Be Buying Again....Yet.
So here's the update on yesterday's post I May Be Buying Again. Last night at 5PM. my wife and I visited the 3BR/3.5BTH Condo with a gorgeous eat-in kitchen, W/D, a formal dining room, and a corner living room with...
Making Sense of the Manhattan Real Estate Market: Not An Easy task
Anxiety levels are high in the Manhattan real estate industry as many eagerly await some sign of market direction in January. Some signs are already appearing as Fall sales have been slow, inventory is increasing (albeit modestly) and price direction...
More Tips on Pricing Property
With all the talk of housing markets across the country still in decline and a quiet stalemate here in Manhattan, many sellers and their agents are confused as to how they should price their property for an efficient sale. Lew...
How's The Manhattan Real Estate Market?
The question that is most frequently asked of me, particularly as of late, is "how's the market?" To which I usually respond, "Can you believe how well those New England Patriots are doing?" That "how's the market" question is increasingly...
Location, Location, Location Determines Market Performance
Fellow blogger and respected voice of real estate, Jonathan Miller is blogging today at Matrix about something that he and I share as a pet peeve: There Is No National Housing Market. The use of national housing statistics has been...
Sellers Beware: Buyers Getting More Anxious
If you're a seller with a property currently on the market or you're thinking of selling anytime soon, it's imperative that you listen to the market and pay close attention to current buyer psychology. This morning I received an email...
Pricing Property: OpenHouseNYC and NY Mag's Triple Assessment
Here we go again with another New York Magazine Triple Assessment from OpenHouseNYC. I like to watch these segments in their entirety and venture my own guess before the actaul list price is disclosed. My guess was $599,000.00. Now you...
$300K Buys A Closet in the Greatest City in the World
In the "What You Get For..." column of today's New York Times, Anna Bahney describes three properties in Front Royal, VA (uh....where?), New Orleans, and Friday Harbor, WA (uh...again...where?). Check out the entire article but here's the gist: Front Royal,...
Desperation Pricing By New Agents
Making sense of the state of the market in Manhattan has proven to be a daily challenge. Talk of Wall Street layoffs and meager bonuses, the current credit crunch, and Fed attempts to buoy the economy are just some of...
More Support for "Realistic" Pricing
Friday's post has generated a bit of buzz regarding seller's expectations in softer real estate markets. Coincidentally, Austan Goolsbee wrote A Reality Check for Home Sellers for The New York Times this weekend. So why do seller's often choose to...
A Real Estate Convo Reminiscient of 1992...UH OH!
At the end of the day yesterday I received a phone call from the son of prospective sellers who own a luxury one bedroom condominium on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This is precisely the phone call that I...
Pricing Property: NY Mag's Triple Assessment from OpenHouseNYC
I have always recommended to my prospective sellers that they interview multiple agents when determining who is best suited to represent them with the sale of their home. One of the reasons for this is to get some collective concept...
Ignorance is Anything but Bliss for Many Borrowers
I can't resist sharing MMI: Staying Ignorant in Five Easy Steps from Calculated Risk which exposes the numerous holes in a recent MarketWatch report about qualifying for a mortgage in today's credit crisis (and it is a crisis) which begins...
Buyer Incentives to Help Sell Your Home
Amy Hoak of RealEstateJournal.com shares Effective Incentives to Woo Buyers and Sell Your Home. Hoak points out that gimmicky incentives like trips, cars, and flat screen TVs are less likely to provide the incentive a buyer needs than good old...
Why Should You Use a Mortgage Broker?
As a Manhattan real estate professional for the past 15 years, one of the most common questions I'm asked by my clients is "should I go directly to my bank or use a mortgage broker?" I personally have always used...
Things You Can Overhear in the Real Estate Office
Originally posted June 15, 2006. This is precisely why I think this blog is a necessity. Yesterday someone said that she just took an exclusive listing from a seller and she was laughing that it would NEVER sell as it...
A Welcome Calm in Manhattan Real Estate Market
I have just finished perusing the RSS feeds and news stories today and nothing really grabbed my attention. My anecdotal opinion on the current Manhattan real estate market: It's quiet. This time of year traditionally sees a bit of a...
Memorial Day Link-O-Rama
I hope everyone is looking forward to this long Memorial Day weekend as much as I am. I'm heading out to Bridgehampton with the family to spend the weekend with my in-laws (that's a good thing...I actually really like them)....
Tricks that Give Agents and Brokers Bad Names...REDUX
From the TrueGotham archives: I'm furiously committed to the idea that expert, ethical, and talented brokers and agents are tremendously valuable to clients. But there's no point in pretending that every broker and agent is. In fact, so many people...
For Sale By Owner: Going it Without an Agent
I'm home with the flu today just two short days before a much needed week long vacation in the Dominican Republic and thought that since I'm out of commission (certainly not in the financial sense of the word) a post...
Pricing Property Properly...Positively a Priority!
It's no secret that the prime marketing time for selling a home occurs during the first few weeks of it's listing. Don't just take my word for it. "Your home should be priced right from the very beginning," according to...
Making Sense of the NYC Real Estate Market
Buyers, sellers, and renters alike continue to corner me at cocktail parties and call me daily asking me the all important question, "How's the market?" It is a very difficult question to answer because for each the answer differs. It's...
Frenzied Real Estate Market Indeed
I just spent the last hour blogging about the Ask Curbed question today, "Is There a Frenzy in the Market?" My answer: yes. I think I tied in some nice advice on pricing in this type of market too. That...
The Art...I Mean "Psychology" of Pricing
On February 6, I blogged about The Art Of Pricing Property. Shortly after posting this piece, I was perusing my friend Noah Rosenblatt's blog, Urban Digs and noticed that he was a step ahead of me (actually a day ahead...
The Art of Pricing Property
There is perhaps no more important element in the process of selling your home than pricing it accurately. By accurate pricing, I mean selecting a price that gives you, the seller, the best chance at procuring the highest bid within...
$3000 Per Square Foot for ONE ROOM!
The insanity that is Manhattan real estate continues to baffle many of us as Curbed posts about this 700sf studio apartment at Richard Meier's 165 Charles Street that has an asking price of $2.1M. Corcoran broker Jon Capobianco must have...
Jonathan Miller Thinks the Current Market Needs a Slogan
That's what he says. I can’t speak for the local markets across the country, but the Manhattan market has heated up yet again and seems to be supporting the “anomaly theory” that many in the industry and the media would...
RE Connect Happenings
Zillow's new message to real estate professionals: buy an ad on Zillow! Jeff Somers writes about what president Lloyd Frink has been explaining at the conference: "We’re calling it EZAds – and it’s pretty simple – an easy, online...
New York City in the Year 2030
Imagine sitting in a 12-hour traffic jam perhaps because you absolutely won't fit on the subway that is jammed beyond capacity (many think that's the case now... it's not!) only to arrive home to your dark apartment or house... yep......
If Alan Greenspan Says It
Perhaps you saw Alan Greenspan's recent comments, here recounted by the Associated Press: "The economy is obviously going through a significant slowing period, which as best I can tell is more than likely temporary," Greenspan said during a question...
Top Producers Are Busy
A Hamptons real estate blogger reports that top producing agents are making plenty of deals these days, while other agents and brokers are sitting on the sidelines. As far as I can tell, things are very similar in New York...
How Long Has That Been on the Market?
In May, I wrote about something that didn't make me proud: the expiration of my exclusive listing for an apartment I loved at 309 W 86th Street. For the last nine months one of my exclusives has been my pet...
1.2 Million and Falling
Did you know there are 1.2 million real estate agents in this country? That's what it says here. The number of agents is going to fall and fall hard in my opinion as the market continues to cool and agents...
The New Zillow
Now, when homeowners find mistaken information in their listings, they can make updates, and have their information appear immediately adjacent to the public listing information. Zillow Chairman and CEO Rich Barton was the first person to put it to use....
The Demise of 6% Commissions?
Over the weekend, Damon Darlin wrote in The New York Times wrote about the doomed payment structure of the real estate industry. Some economists wonder why agents fight so hard to maintain this pricing system when it is making so...
Fishing for Big Dollars
Jonathan Miller wonders about some of the listings out there these days: I wonder if any meaningful proportion of the residential listings currently on the market are sellers who are not serious and/or are “trolling” for a crazy price. I...
Trends in Real Estate Innovation
Zillow Blog's Spencer Rascoff reports an interesting tidbit from last week's Inman Connect conference, involving Glenn Cohen, CEO of Expert Realty. Glenn made what I think was one of the most interesting comments of the conference: most of the innovation...
Boston Agents Coached to Price Low
The Boston Globe's Kimberly Blanton reports: The hope is low prices will attract more prospective buyers, leading to faster sales. Other real estate agents in the Boston area report success with similar strategies in a housing market with an unprecedented...
114 Reasons To Price Aggressively
According to Curbed llan Bracha of Prudential Douglas Elliman has reason to celebrate: Despite plunging prices, illegal hotel rooms and a loss of public confidence in condo developments, Page Six says it spotted "Prudential Douglas Elliman's top broker, Ilan Bracha,...
Because It's All For Sale, Really. Right?
Glenn Roberts, Jr. of Inman News discusses a cool thing that's happening in Helsinki these days: Igglo, a Finnish company, allows prospective buyers to post online offers to buy a particular property -- it doesn't matter whether it's actually for...
Zillow Fails a Test Drive
I have heard a lot of media buzz about Zillow.com, so I gave the site a look-see. Fancy, very cool, but wow! There numbers and basic facts are way off. I decided to conduct a little experiment. I searched the...
Inman and Pricing Techniques
Inman News has got some questions about pricing property: The price is right, or is it? Home sellers often look to real estate agents for guidance in how to price their homes. We've heard an earful about what you think...
When a Broker Falls in Love with a Penthouse
When you do enough transactions in the real estate industry, the inevitable always happens... lost bidding wars, co-op board turndowns, and... well... um... uh... the expiration of an exclusive agreement before you have sold a property. Let me tell you...
Pricing: Why Not Just Hire an Appraiser?
Yesterday I stepped into the minefield that is defending real estate brokers. In the post and the comments, pricing your apartment is the big issue. I maintain a knowledgeable broker earns a good chunk of his or money with this...
6% Can Be Well Worth It
I know, I know, I'm a broker so of course I say that. But this is not the same old argument you have always heard. I have put my money where my mouth is. Please, hear me out. As many...
Brokers Starting to Panic?
Property Grunt has word of brokers getting very nervous: Up in the burbs of NYC, brokers are going bats**t since nothing is moving. Even the high end luxury stuff isn't budging. There is wide spread fear that the market is...
Solid Advice for Buyers and Sellers from Fortune
Ellen Florian Katz of Fortune magazine has some very solid real estate tips that are up now at CNNMoney. The piece gives advice for sellers, buyers, and those who plan to stay where they are in this cooling market. Here...
Pressure to Lower Prices
Fresh off co-writing an article about how home prices aren't appreciating as much at the moment, Damon Darlin of The New York Times has an interesting little tidbit on his Times real estate blog, The Walk-Through, about real estate agents...
Real Estate Journal Suggests Mushy Markets Everywhere
The Real Estate Journal reports all over the country markets are experiencing unusual springtime behavior. Lauren Baier Kim reports: Driving to work this morning to Dow Jones's central New Jersey campus, I spotted many house "For Sale" signs, along with...
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