Last night I held a seminar for anyone considering in buying or selling in 2015 at the CORE Chelsea office.
The speakers, crowd and overall energy were all great. To sum it up, it was an exchange of honest, direct information in an open, caring setting…not usually what first comes to mind with the topic New York Real Estate. The takeaways:
Real Estate Market, by yours truly:
- Manhattan used to be described as uptown or downtown. Now it is subdivided by neighborhood, property ownership-type and level of fit and finish.
- Brooklyn is the new downtown Manhattan and recognized worldwide as brand of cool. As such, the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights are now more expensive than many Manhattan neighborhoods.
- Queens is the new Brooklyn. The city is planning to rezone the wide boulevards of Queens for medium density housing. A new development, the Aston, is selling 1-beds $625,000-$800,000.
Mortgage Updates, by Aaron Ritter of Citibank:
- Have your credit checked before applying for a mortgage. Reports have mistakes. Or there is that one small bill your forgot to pay. By not checking your credit and getting it fixed, you may end up paying a higher rate or be declined altogether.
- When applying for a mortgage, do not make other large purchases at the same time.
- Do not move monies from one account to another when in the mortgage process.
Real Estate Law, by Karen Sonn of Sonn Associates:
- When selling, talk to your attorney before listing the property. The attorney will make sure all building permits are closed and the deed matches the seller. Prevents huge problems later.
- When buying, always hire a building engineer to inspect the property to make sure everything works within the walls of the property and make sure the building overall is in good condition.
Interior Design, by Jodi Cohan of JAC art + design studio:
- Talk to an interior designer before you buy a property to determine what type of space best suites you.
- As opposed to rooms for uses, modern layouts have different areas that may encompass more than one room or a use or one room with multiple uses
- To increase flow, you do not necessary have to take down walls completely. Instead, widening a doorway can accomplish the same feeling while retaining wall space for art.