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Should you list your apartment for sale now or take the Summer off and wait post-Labor Day?

by Honeycrisp July 21, 2010

Summer time is perfect for weekend getaways to the Hamptons or that long-deserved vacation away from the city’s smoldering pavements.  Not surprisingly, therefore, it’s also historically known for being one of the slowest sales period of the year.   The question is:  is this year’s seasonality trumped by local market dynamics? In other words, if [...]

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Up close with Jonathan Miller on the decreasing quality of appraisals today

by Honeycrisp June 25, 2010

With the front and center impact of appraisals on the sales market, we had a theory that we wanted to test with Jonathan Miller, blogger and appraiser extraordinaire as President and CEO of Miller Samuel.    Our thesis was that, in markets with upward momentum, appraisals will always under-estimate home values based on the reliance on [...]

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“The best time in our generation to buy” … ???

by Red Delicious May 25, 2010

So notes Moody’s chief economist, Mark Zandi.  More accurately put, the coming weeks or months may well offer lowest cost of financing the purchase of a home in close to 50 years.
For some time now, we have been noting that interest rates have a high probability of increasing due to many factors including the [...]

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My Big Fat Greek Crisis: what European troubles may mean for the NYC housing market

by Honeycrisp May 12, 2010

We couldn’t help but be hypnotized Thursday by the almost 1,000 point market drop, and whiplashed by its subsequent jump within 15 minutes.  The Greek situation is now believed to be far more than a liquidity crisis but rather an issue of solvency, and one that is not likely to be contained regardless of any short-term [...]

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Why buyers are getting emotionally engaged and paying up

by Mitchel Askinas May 2, 2010

A snapshot of buyer psychology today
“Times they are-a-changin”, and nowhere can this be seen more than the shifting psychology of NYC buyers.  The last 6 months are pointing to increased buyer anxiety that stems from several places:

Inventory frustration: clearly supply and demand have shifted, and buyers have been discouraged by the limited fresh listings coming [...]

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Hear Us Speak at GreenPearl’s Real Estate Marketing & Tech Conference

by Honeycrisp April 28, 2010

GreenPearl Events and its CEO, Ryan Slack, have organized this great conference over the next two days which includes some of the most notable thought leaders in the industry. We will be speaking there on Thursday in the afternoon, leading the Blogging Primer Seminar.
Notable speakers include:
Dawn Doherty, VP Strategic Development, StreetEasy
Stephen Kliegerman, [...]

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Have New Yorkers outgrown CraigsList?

by Honeycrisp April 20, 2010

The 101 on avoiding the traps of using CraigsList in your apartment search
CraigsList used to be the #1 destination for New Yorkers looking for apartment rental deals.  Nowadays, the venue has become a minefield of pitfalls to avoid, sending wannabe tenants to StreetEasy.  Here’s a bit of a breakdown of how this wondrous list of [...]

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An interview with Jeff Appel: The mortgage pitfalls to avoid as a buyer today

by Honeycrisp April 13, 2010

We recently had the opportunity to interview Jeff Appel, mortgage professional extraordinaire, regarding the credit markets today and what buyers can do to empower themselves.  Here are the gems of wisdom he shared with us, in terms of navigating the often turbulent waters of the mortgage market:

Confirm that the projects you’re looking to bid on [...]

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Reading Housing Data 101: statistical significance and trends & conclusions

by Red Delicious April 12, 2010

We are concluding our 5 part series, Reading Housing Data 101, to help you better understand quoted housing statistics and avoid taking others’ conclusions at face value. We have thus far dealt with the distinction between local vs. national data, seasonality, quarterly vs. annual comparisons, now let’s look at the last two:  statistical significance and [...]

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How to avoid the behavioral pitfalls that could hurt you in selling your home

by Honeycrisp April 6, 2010

Behavioral economics is the study of how social, cognitive and emotional factors influence the economic decisions of consumers, borrowers and investors, along with market prices, returns and the allocation of resources. It basically refutes efficient market theory and looks to human nature as an indicator of behavior.
We’re bringing this up because we came across this [...]

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