Morgan Evans-New York City Real Estate Expert

New York City Rental Market:

Renting an apartment in New York City is not an easy task.  My first time renters always have a hard time understanding why they have to provide so much information just to rent an apartment.  A typical rental application requires an employment letter on company letterhead, a couple months of bank statements, credit report, and more.  

The prospective renter has usually been able to go on various websites and read reviews of the building's management.  From my experience, it only takes one upset person to write a number of terrible reviews about whatever qualm they have or had with that building.  Now it appears that the landlords have a website to check the backgrounds of their prospective tentants, www.DoNotRentTo.com.   The website will provide information concerning:

• Late payments
• Non-payment of Rent
• Theft
• Refusal to vacate premises
• Or, other issues the landlord had with the tenant

 "This site is driven by landlords supplying information regarding their experiences with tenants."

 That is the most interesting part of this site to me, I would assume a thorough credit and background check would find any evictions, criminal misconduct, history of poor credit, but it would be the specific comments that would make things interesting.  Is there a difference between a tenant saying that the building's super and doorman are lazy and a landlord saying that a particular tenant will complain about their neighbors and that their dog barks all day long while they are away at work?

To Read More on renting Manhattan New York city Real Estate Click below links:

*If you are interested in renting an apartment in New York City click here*

**My exclusive Dorchester Towers Condominium at 155 W 68th St Rental Report**

***Manhattan Rental Market 2008 Year in Review***

If you are thinking of buying or renting in Manhattan New York. Contact us today at (917) 837-8869 to help you find a building that fits all of your needs.

Copyright © 2009 by Morgan Evans: Renting in New York City: Landlords Fighting Back

Here is a review of the revised first-time home buyer tax credit

Click Here to Speak with a Mortgage Broker, Debra Bedell, about getting pre-qualified for a loan

New York City First Time Home Buyer Series:

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER: KNOW YOUR PRODUCT - PART 1 OF 5

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER: KNOW YOUR BUYING POWER - PART 2 OF 5

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER: KNOW THE FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE BUILDING - PART 3 OF 5

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER: WHO MANAGES THE BUILDING - PART 4 OF 5

• NEW YORK CITY FIRST TIME HOME BUYER: BUYING WITH YOUR HEAD AND YOUR HEART - PART 5 OF 5

If you are first time home buyer or investor and would like to receive more free reports and information about New York City go to www.nycaptinfo.com

Disclaimer: All information in this post is subject to change without notice. Subject matter: is an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be time sensitive, and may be based on information collected from several sources which may or may not be reliable at the time of sourcing.

How to Price your Apartment in New York City!

How do you price property in today's Manhattan Real Estate market? If you ask 10 different brokers what your apartment is worth, you will probably get 10 different answers. Do you price your property for what your neighbor got for his 4 months ago, right before the financial crisis hit? Do you price it a little bit lower than all the other listings available in your building? Do you take the advice of the one broker who says that they can get you 100k more than everybody else said they could??

It depends.... pricing property is a combination of art and science in today's Manhattan real estate market. To evaluate how to price a property lets first take a look at the science of pricing.

You need the hard facts, numbers don't lie, but they have to be taken in context. Closed sales data is stale in today's market. Closed sales data is a lagging indicator of today's value. Property that closed recently probably went into contract 3-4 months ago and if it was a new construction condo, it could have been as long as 12-18 months ago. Those prices were negotiated under a different climate.

In-contract sales data is key. In-contract data will give you the most recent idea of what your New York City apartment could possibly sell for. The next logical question is how do you get your hands on this information?? As a consumer, websites like propertyshark, streeteasy are terrific for closed sales information. For in-contract information you can either look it up on the Douglas Elliman website, or contact us and we will provide a detailed list of properties in-contract for your desired search.

You also need to understand a holistic approach the macro outlook of pricing trends throughout the entire market, not just your specific market segment. Questions to consider: What price points is property moving the most? How long is property taking to sell? What's the market's absorption rate? What's the average price drop once a properties been on the market? What neighborhoods have more sales? What type of offers are people making? This is the type of information you need to understand or your agent needs to understand in order to be fully informed of a pricing strategy for your property. Contact us Today for this information!

Let's take a look at the art of pricing property. We can look at numbers all day long, but there is a qualitative approach to pricing property that should be discussed. The best explanation of what your property is worth is this: A property is worth what a buyer is willing to pay and what a seller is willing to take. You might be the lowest priced line in your building, the lowest price in a two block radius, but if buyers are not responding to your apartment and weeks and weeks go by, essentially they are rejecting the price.

What else is available in your building and how does it compare to your apartment? Who is the competition? What is the condition of those apartments, what about the views, is it a rental property or owner occupied, who is the broker representing the property? Obviously the condition and exposure will directly impact a properties value, but so will the type of marketing exposure a property has and how easy it is to show the property. If an apartment has a renter, you will have to coordinate around the access the tenant gives to the property, and often a tenant will not maintain the property as well as would an owner. Dirty dishes, dirty bathrooms, these factors don't exactly create a wonderful first impression. If you are selling an investment property with a tenant involved, understanding how that can influence your bottom line is something you should consider.

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.

Contact Morgan Evans and Eileen Hsu, Fine Homes Specialist, at 917-837-8869 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Manhattan, New York City. We are accepting referrals.

To view all the Manhattan Apartments For Sale Click here and then click on Contact Us. We know Manhattan and will help you get your apartment Sold if you need to Sell your apartment and help you buy your apartment in Manhattan, New York City: Call us today.

Disclaimer: All information in this post is subject to change without notice. Subject matter: is an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be time sensitive, and may be based on information collected from several sources which may or may not be reliable at the time of sourcing.

The Dorchester Towers Condominium (155 West 68th Street) offers a unique ability for your rental needs. Dorchester Towers is one of the largest full service condominium buildings on the Upper West Side. It has about 680 units spread out over 32 floors.

What makes Dorchester Towers unique is that about half of the units are owned by individual owners and the other half are owned by the original sponsor. What that means to you is that if you are looking for a rental apartment you can either rent from an owner or from the sponsor who owns the remaining units in the building. Typically the sponsor renovates their units before they put them on the market. They will do a gut renovation and deliver the apartment with brand new bathrooms, kitchen, parquet hardwood floors, moldings, doors and fixtures. If you are looking for a renovated rental apartment in the Upper West Side this will be a terrific opportunity.

Renting from the individual owner does not necessarily mean that the apartment will be renovated. It will depend solely on if the owner has completed any prior renovations. The apartment might be in a semi-original condition or it might have undergone a gut renovation with high end appliances and finishes. Either way all of the building's amenities are at your disposal. If you are interested in pricing, incentives, and availability for both individual and sponsor owned apartments at the Dorchester Towers contact me.

The first thing you see at the Dorchester Towers Condominium is the circular driveway and the landscaped garden leading to the renovated lobby. Doorman and concierge await you as you enter the spacious foyer. A package room and a total of nine elevators. There are laundry rooms on every floor up to the 21st floor. Garage facilities are also attached to this Upper West Side condominium building.

Here are sample floorplans for 1-Bedroom Floorplan , 1-Bedroom w/dining alcove(JR 4) Floorplan or 2 -Bedroom 2.5 Bath Floorplan. If you are looking for a studio, alcove studio or different configuration contact us and we will provide your desired request.

Dorchester Towers Condominium Sales 2008 Year in Review: If you are an owner or potential owner of an apartment at the Dorchester Towers Condominium.

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) Rental Report*

Disclaimer: All information in this post is subject to change without notice. Subject matter: is an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be time sensitive, and may be based on information collected from several sources which may or may not be reliable at the time of sourcing.

I had a tremendously busy week of appointments and today was the pinnacle of my busy week. Starting at noon I had a whirlwind afternoon of buyer appointments and showing appointments for a couple of our better priced listings since we do not have any lockboxes in New York City. With so many appointments in a short period of time, if one appointment is late a domino effect will happen and the rest of the appointments will all fall down. What gets a little tricky is not how fast you can get from one appointment to another. The tricky part is when other people are late or call last minute to reschedule.

My first appointment was at noon and was at one of our Murray Hill studio co-op apartments. This property gets shown a lot and I am ready for it go get an offer one of these days. My next appointment was about 3/4 of a mile away at one of most requested listings, a renovated Gramercy alcove studio priced at $499,000 with a washer/dryer in the unit. Here in New York City having a studio with its very own washer/dryer is quite the luxury. This unit is priced very well and is in great condition, people respond very well to this listing. At this point I was still on time, no hiccups yet.

My next appointment was at the Gramercy Starck. This is the type of building that has to be seen to to believe. Designed by Phillipe Starck and his design team, this is a high design super lux condominium building. We have a number of listings available in the building and I was there to show one of our two bedroom listings. While I was in the lobby waiting for the appointment to arrive I had a last minute request to see another unit in the building. I wanted to accommodate so I stayed and showed a listing again. Now I am running a little late to my next appointment.

I hustled uptown 50 blocks away to the Upper East Side and had three appointments to show a buyer some one bedroom and alcove studio apartments. These appointments went pretty smoothly. Earlier on in the day I had to juggle a couple of these appointments, but everybody showed up on time and my buyer saw a couple of apartments with lots of potential.

The next appointment was back downtown at the Renovated Alcove Studio. This was a second showing, something that is always very encouraging in todays market. I gave a full tour of the building and was told that our exclusive is on their short list of finalists. We will see if an offer comes in. The next and final appointment was at the Murray Hill studio co-op. This is where things got interesting. I met a nice couple and their broker who were looking for a pied-a-terres property here in New York City. This apartment is tailor made for that type of situation. As I am explaining the different types of ways to have their furniture positioned and they are asking me questions about the units renovations I hear the doorbell ring. The first thing I thought was that was weird. I answer the door and I was looking at a very pissed off neighbor. The owner directly below us started screaming at me about all of the noise that we were making and that she had the right to exist in peace. Needless to say, I was hoping the buyer did not get turned off by this disgruntle neighbor that may just been having a bad day, we were the victims of her bad day...

I started at noon today with this madness appointments day and finished at 5pm in the afternoon, I calculated how many miles I have walked today, it had to be about 10 miles!!! I could not even believe that I walked 10 miles today hustling around town. Now I truly think that we have to be in absolute great shape to be in Real Estate... but first I rewarded myself with one of my favorite meals of a cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate shake!

To view more New York City condominium and co-ops please click Here!