From the category archives:

Buyers

Appraisal jam: multiple appraisals asked for the same property?

by Red Delicious October 6, 2011

As you may know, our team has a collective 30+ years of experience in the real estate industry. You could say we’ve seen it all … until now, that is. Thankfully, we had an amazing August; during the month, we encountered three, count them, three requests for doubling up on appraisals. To spell this out [...]

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Baby on Board? What to expect when you’re expecting

by Honeycrisp September 29, 2011

Few life events are more impactful than having a baby.  It changes your life, your priorities and, more often than not, your housing needs.  The prospect of a new giggling, pooping and seemingly always eating family member effects more than just your perspective on work and family:  it has very real consequences on the timing [...]

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When NOT to walk away from negotiations

by Honeycrisp September 8, 2011

We’ve worked with a few buyers recently who want to test a seller’s resolve via the negotiations process.  Sounds normal, right?  The issue is that we’re seeing many buyers not willing to take the process to its conclusion.  They begin bidding, receive one or two counters and then stop and pull out altogether, assuming that [...]

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Buying as a lesson in financial discipline for your children

by McIntosh August 16, 2011

If you’re a parent paying your child’s rent, pay close attention to this post.  (If you’re that child, read carefully as well and pass it on to your parents.)  The NYT recently ran an article on an increase in the number of parents buying for their children.  Normally we would speak about this to sellers, [...]

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Which buyers will get squeezed by lower jumbo loan limits?

by Empire August 10, 2011

It’s official:  jumbo loan limits are shrinking from “jumbo” to “extra large” instead.  One by one, banks are cutting off their conforming loans at the $625,500 limit that Fannie will impose come September of this year (this is down from the current $729,500 limit).  At first, upon learning of the lower jumbo cut-off, we started [...]

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When should you buy in a new development for the best deal?

by Red Delicious July 18, 2011

With tax abated properties getting absorbed with each passing week and the inventory of spanking new properties dwindling, fresh new developments coming to market are attracting many interested buyers.  Generally, they are frustrated by the feeling of seeing properties 80%+ sold and having few options from which to choose.  They are also feeling the pressure [...]

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The summer slow-down myth exposed

by Mitchel Askinas June 17, 2011

It is considered common wisdom that the summer presents both sellers and buyers with the annual seasonal slowdown, both in the number of listings coming to market and in the number of contracts signed.  This is said to be the case due to the mass exodus of residents leaving the city for their Hamptons homes [...]

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“Things I wish I had known before buying”

by Red Delicious May 26, 2011

We were inspired by a recent list on Brick Underground on “things I wish I had known before buying”.  Often times, you don’t know what you don’t know until after the fact.  We thought we would therefore share our own thoughts, from both a personal and a client perspective, on what these nuggets of wisdom [...]

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Are co-ops going out of favor in NYC?

by McIntosh May 25, 2011

Every so often, several deals occur over a short period of time that raise our eyebrows in terms of new, developing market trends.  While we can’t call it an outright exodus, we have encountered one too many of these situations to not mention them:  owners selling their coops and strongly opting for condos in their [...]

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Why fewer listings are coming to market – some theories

by Red Delicious May 23, 2011

Are you feeling frustrated? Does it seem that there are too few new apartments coming on the market for this time of year?  Well, you are correct.  As Urban Digs points, out: April was the 7th consecutive month where we have seen fewer listings come to market compared with the same period exactly one year [...]

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