Morgan Evans-New York City Real Estate Expert

NYC Listings - Searching for an Apartment is not the easiest task to do if you are not familiar with Manhattan New York Real Estate market.

NYC Listings, Are you interested in buying or renting an apartment in Manhattan? Well if you have started your search you have already realized that searching for NYC listings is not as easy it appears. The search for a rental apartment and a sale apartment are going to be two quite different processes. What makes the search difficult is that Manhattan does not have a MLS like almost every other part of the country. So how do you conduct a comprehensive search?

Finding your perfect NYC Listing is not as easy as you think because complete information is hard to decipher. The real estate companies websites do not share NYC Listings. You can't go to Elliman's website and see Corcoran's listings like you could in a MLS setting. So you have to go to each company's website to set up a search. The question is what about the smaller companies that have their own listings, those properties are slipping through the cracks because you are not searching on their platform.

Step 2, go to a website like NYTimes, trulia, OLR, or Streeteasy. These websites are sort of like a MLS website where they compile a more comprehensive list of all the cooperating brokerage firms. Once again, not all companies have the reach to send their listings to these sites or update the information of their listings regularly, so listings are still falling in the cracks, but these sites definitely have some innovative search criteria and capability. Their is lag time between when these websites get a new listing or when a listing changes price, so by the time these websites get the information if a listing was priced very well it can already have offers on it. If you are looking for a super competitive price point or segment of the market this is something to consider.

Or you can work with a broker who has access to all of the NYC listings available. We have a comprehensive list from all of the firms that belong to the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). If you ask a broker to conduct a search for you they will do so based on the information you give them. Something to keep in mind is that not all broker's skill at searching for properties is the same. Being able to tweak a search will enable them to find that property that could work for you based on your original criteria.

To Read Our Home Buyer Blog Series:

1. NYC Listing: KNOW YOUR PRODUCT-PART 1 OF 5
2. NYC Listing: KNOW YOUR BUYING POWER-PART 2 OF 5
3. NYC Listing: KNOW THE FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE BUILDING-PART3 OF 5
4. NYC Listing: WHO MANAGES THE BUILDING - PART 4 OF 5
5. NYC Listing: BUYING WITH YOUR HEAD AND YOUR HEART - PART 5 OF 5

We also have a list of NYC listings that we consider "Hot Properties." These are properties that as brokers we deem as exceptional values in todays market. This is a great list to see some of the best priced properties within different market segments throughout the city. Contact us today to have your own customized search for all NYC listings. Contact us (917)837-8869 or Morgan.Evans(@)elliman.com today to receive the monthly HOT Properties list.

Manhattan Apartments No Fee, we can help you find them in the time frame you want.

Manhattan Apartments No Fee are plentiful with certain conditions. These apartments will be more than likely in a rental building managed by a big management company. Management companies typically have straight forward guidelines of who they will accept as an applicant. If you do not meet their income requirements, credit scores, among other issues you will not be looked at. Naturally every company is different, but renting from a management company and directly from an owner will be a different process.

No Fee Manhattan Apartments are typically a little bit more expensive than similar apartments rented from an owner. This isn't a rule, but something I see regularly. The no fee is built into a more premium rent. I see examples of buildings that have both owner rented units and management company rentals side by side.

Right now renting an apartment is much easier than in years past. Finding a Manhattan Apartment No Fee is typically the first thing people ask me to do when they call about our rental apartments.

Here are my top three Manhattan Apartments No Fee Listings for this week.

• NO FEE Upper West Side Rental One Bed/One Bath: Dorchester Towers $2850
• NO FEE Flatiron Rental: Flex 2/1 bath 270 Park Ave South-$3495
• NO FEE Upper West Side Cozy Studio: 245 W 75th St-in elevator Building for $1400

Contact me at (917)837-8869 or email at Morgan.Evans(@)elliman.com to look for your Manhattan Apartment NO FEE rental.

Copyright "Manhattan Apartments No Fee" 2009

Short Sale Manhattan Part 4 Short Sales in Manhattan New York

What is a short sale?

Short Sales in Manhattan New York Definition: "For homeowners who can no longer afford to keep mortgage payments current, there are alternatives to bankruptcy or foreclosure proceedings. One of those options is called a short sale. When lenders agree to a short sale in real estate, it means they are willing to release their lien against the home for less than the outstanding mortgage balance (including default interest and penalties, etc.).

Just as there are many different lenders there are just as many different policies governing the short sale procedures. The lenders all have their own criteria of what short sales they will accept. Just because your apartment falls in this category does not mean that every apartment will be approved for a short sale.

The next thing to understand for both sellers and buyers is that a short sale does take time.

Short Sales in Manhattan New York Timeframe: From the time a Contract is entered into to sell the apartment, the process should take no longer than 4 months. However, we have been known to negotiate short sales in as little as 3 weeks. All transactions are reviewed on a case-by-case basis so as to better advise the property owner what can expected. Things change often, rules change often in Short Sales. What a lender says is the way it is one day may change tomorrow.

Why would a lender want to do a short sale in Manhattan in the first place? Well, sometimes the loss they will accept on a short sale is less of a loss than if they foreclosed on the property. Foreclosing is not a cheap process at all and in New York it is very time consuming. Most homeowners can keep the lender at bay for months and sometimes even over a year. At times the lender feels it is better for their bottom line to accept a short sale.

Not every homeowner is qualified to do a short sale in Manhattan and we will cover the criteria in the next post in this series: Short Sales In Manhattan. So stay tuned...

Disclaimer: This post is not intended to be or to provide legal advice. We recommend that you speak to your attorney and your tax accountant regarding specifics and to find out if this is the best option for you in your situation.

Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved. *Short Sales In Manhattan, New New York- What you need to Know If You Are Buying Or Selling.*

Visit our profile to find out more about our services. Call us today at 917.837.8869 or 212.321.7147. Contact us by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under our profile.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Manhattan make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. Call us at 917-837-8869 to find out more.

1st Quarter Market Manhattan Listings - 1st Quarter Market Report Review

Manhattan Listings The 4th Quarter of 2008 saw drastic impacts on the US economy and specifically Manhattan real estate. The 1st Quarter Market Report reveals how the events have created a new landscape and "reset" of apartment prices in Manhattan. A number of highlights from Prudential Douglas Elliman's 1st Quarter Market Overview:

• The Manhattan Listings tipping point which occurred last September was largely triggered by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and federal bailouts of AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This marked a sharp contraction of credit, greatly restricting demand as participants had more difficulty obtaining financing. A national recession, rising unemployment and reduced compensation in the financial services sector also played a role in restricting demand.

"There is no denying that a sudden and far reaching impact occurred to the Manhattan real estate market as almost overnight the shift occurred."

• The market reset caused sellers to be more than a year behind the current market, still setting list prices in relation to the last high mark in their respective buildings.

"Sellers who have bought in the last two to three years have been attached to higher Manhattan listing prices because they typically have less equity to work with to sell the property without taking any loss."

• The result is an expansion of Manhattan Listings inventory, listing discount and days on market metrics. However, by the end of the first quarter there was a noticeable up tick in contract activity and attendance at open houses.

"We see a lot of interest in our well priced studio and one bedroom Manhattan listings. First time buyers who have just recently been priced back into the market now see the potential opportunity to buy for the first time as interest rates are low and pricing is becoming more and more favorable.

Market Metrics that we like to follow:

• The number of sales declined 47.6% to 1,195 units from 2,282 units in the prior year quarter and down the same amount from the prior quarter.
• Listing inventory increased to 10,445 units, a 34.3% increase from the 1st Quarter of 2008.
• Average days on market increased to 170 a 16.5% increase from the 1st Quarter of 2008 and a 7.1% increase from the 4th Quarter of 2008.
• Manhattan Listings Discount(from Last List Price) was 12.4%

"The listing Discount from Last List Price is one the market metrics that I give special consideration. I refer to this number as the Negotiability of the unit. Now keep in mind that this number takes into account all types of property(condo, co-op, townhouse) and all price points. Naturally the high end market has been affected far more drastically than the sub-million market. The listing discount shows that there is still considerable disconnect between what buyers are willing to pay for a property and what sellers think their apartment is worth. The average listing discount has been approximately 2% over the past ten years. "

• As Manhattan listings inventory rises, the spread between list price and sales price tends to expand as sellers fall behind the declining market when setting their list prices, especially when there is rapid change in market conditions.

Manhattan Listings: Re-Sale versus New Development: It's very important to distinguish pricing trends for re-sale and new developments.

1. The median sales price of a Manhattan re-sale property- defined as any property not sold in a newly constructed or converted development fell 20.8% to $675,000 from $852,500 in the same period last year.
2. The median sales price of a new development increased 31.4%. The price negotiated in a new development sale transaction was likely reached 12-18 months ago.

What Does this All Mean for Manhattan Listings?

Buyers- If you are looking for Manhattan listings, we encourage you to first become educated, and speak to a mortgage broker or local bank regarding financing. If you are first time home buyer, please read our first time buyer series outlining the process of buying in Manhattan. One of the questions we hear most is, when is the market going to bottom? We can't tell you, we won't know until we are back on the way up again. What we can say is that we will need to see listing inventory level off, the listing discount come down to historical levels, and the average days on market for Manhattan listings to decrease. There are also a number of macro-economic factors including price vs. rent, affordability indexes to come back in line to the current market conditions.

Sellers- Two most important questions we ask: Why are you selling and when did you buy? You have to have a very important reason to sell in this market. We are seeing some apartments trade for prices that we have not seen since 2005.

Ultimately, what's your motivation? Do you really need to sell or would it be nice to sell if you could get a certain price? In order to have a successful sale being market educated and to understand what it will take to actually sell will be the keys to your success.

We are Real Estate agents under one of the most successful Manhattan Brokerage firm Prudential Douglas Elliman with extensive Manhattan Condo and Co-Op market knowledge. In addition, we have the confidence and success in selling all of our exclusive properties.

If you are a Manhattan Condo owner that is unsure how to price your condo properly, call us today at (917)837-8869 or email us at Ehsu(at sign)elliman.com for a confidential conversation. We will be able to discuss your specific needs, open and clear solution to help you achieve your Real Estate goals.

• Our Manhattan Condo Listings
• Manhattan Condo Short Sale Agents
• We have the Manhattan Condo Buyers
  

*Manhattan Listings - was first published on www.Manhattan-Condo-Living.com*

Dorchester Market Report-February Dorchester Towers Condominium

Dorchester Towers Condomonium Market Report

Dorchester Towers currently has 3 apartments on the market for sale. Their is a mix of apartments available. There is one alcove studio, a junior one bedroom and a two bedroom available. Prices range from $600,000 - $1,300,000. For such a large building, approximately 340 individual owned apartments, only three units make up approximately 1%. Typically in a market like ours we see 5-15% of the units for sale in any given building.

As a resident of Dorchester Towers Condominium, we keep track of the sales and pricing activity very diligently. If you are thinking of selling your Dorchester Towers Condominium apartment you want to have the most up-to-date information of recent building sales and overall market trends. In today's market in-contract pricing is the most relevant useful information. Closed sales are too lagging, properties that have closed within the past month probably went in contract 3-4 months ago, if its new development that number could be 6-12 months ago. The buyers that will be looking at your apartment will be using today's news reports, today's market evaluations, to help them make a decision on the pricing they are willing to bid at.

Here are two of the most useful statistics:

• The Negotiability Factor or the % Discount from Last Asking Price:

The Negotiability Factor has to be looked at within the right context. This is a number that a seller is willing to negotiate from their last asking price. 9.5% represents all price ranges of property that went into contract, so if you are looking at 2 million + properties or 350k studios your reality will be quite different. We see a lot of buyers put in bids for a property 20-30% below the current asking. These offers for price points below $1,000,000 are not really going anywhere. The sellers that we are working with just are not negotiating with those type of offers. The fact that the % discount from last asking price to the in-contract price is about 9-10% seems realistic to the transactions that we are doing at this time.

• The % Discount from Original Ask to Last Asking Price:

The % Discount from Original Ask to Last Asking Price is the amount a property has been discounted in order to get an offer on a property. I do not feel that the amount to discount is a cut and dry figure. It will depend on the original ask and how realistic that number was to begin with. If a property has been on the market for 6 months and has not had any offers and was priced 10% high to begin with, then dicounting by 8% will probably not do much to increase traffic. A property like that might take a signficiant price decrease depending on the price point it falls in. If a property was priced extremely competitively a month ago, but has not received an accepted offer yet, than decreasing in the neighborhood of 5-10% will probably give that apartment a lot more interest and traction. It will really depend on whats the competition and what property is going in-contract for within that building, neighborhood, and price range.

Conclusions:

1. Having up-to-date market information will give you the edge when it is time to negotiate
2. If you are a seller, and if you really want to sell, in-contract sales data is the most realistic information. Closed sales data is lagging.
3. Having a comprehensive understanding of the price point and sub

To Read More on Dorchester Towers Real Estate Click below links:

1. Dorchester Towers Condominium Sales 2008 Year in Review:
2. Dorchester Towers Condominium at 155 W 68th St Rental Report

For a complete list of the current apartments for sale at the Dorchester Towers Condominium or for condominium apartments for sale in the Upper West Side call Morgan Evans or Eileen Hsu at (212)321-7122 for further details.

*If you are thinking of selling your Dorchester Tower Apartment (155 West 68th Street)*

**We are in a competitive market, hence working with two agents that live in the building and that specialize in condominium sales will you give you an advantage when it comes time to sell or rent your apartment. Our approach to selling your apartment is intentionally unique. We use strategies that most real estate agents do not use. If you are interested in hearing our proposition, contact us immediately to see how we can help you achieve your goals.**

Copyright © 2009 By Morgan Evans, All Rights Reserved.*Dorchester Towers Condominium (155 West 68th St) Market Report*