Downtowny

Correction to Visionaire Sales Post

2010-06-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

In response to our post just moments ago, a reader was quick to point out that recent sales for the Visionaire (of which there have been many) are incorrectly classified as sales in the 9-story Riverwatch building, an older rental property located near the Visionaire. This should help with our comps search....

Is it Just Us or Has the Visionaire Not Closed a Single Unit This Year?

2010-06-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

In our quest to determine what a reasonable price would be for the newly unveiled Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green we decided to head over to Streeteasy to get some comps for the Visionaire, a luxury building in an (arguably) less desirable Battery Park location.

So...surprised we were when we discovered that there actually appear to be no recent comps according to Streeteasy. In fact, the Visionaire, which we always thought was comparatively healthy seems to have not closed a single unit in 2010 (it's JUNE folks) and has done little this year except pull various listings off the market.

Is it us? Streeteasy? Or is more trouble brewing in BPC?

Party Like It's 1925

2010-06-07T11:06:00.001-07:00

Check out this online collection (via a Streeteasy thread) documenting old floor plans and brochures from buildings throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. Not surprisingly, downtown was comprised mostly of office buildings back in the day, highlighted as an example in this neat brochure describing 99 John St to prospective tenants . Today, 99 John is living it's third life as an office building turned rental building turned condo building.

Liberty Luxe/Liberty Green Finally Reveal Themselves!

2010-06-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

We've been waiting with baited breath for a look at Battery Park's final two residential towers currently being built on the last plot of residential-zoned land in North Battery Park City. Liberty Luxe, a 32-story tower and Liberty Green, a 22-story tower are set to join developer Milstein's previously constructed 1980s South Battery Park "Liberties" (Liberty Court, Liberty House, Liberty Terrace, and Liberty View). The rental arm of Milstein (Milford Management...oh so clever) professionally manages a good number of units in the South BPC Liberties so we can't help but wonder whether Milstein will also only sell a portion of Liberty Luxe/Liberty Green.

Anywho, on to the good stuff. The Liberty Luxe/Liberty Green website has been tempting us for months with a "VIP" form to fill out but no other information. Sometime over the past week however, Milstein put up actual building info with pictures of bathrooms, kitchens and common areas. You still kind of have to sneak by the pesky VIP form however, by clicking the newly appeared "Enter Site" link in the lower right-hand corner on the otherwise unchanged homepage.

So...the good?
-Looks like Liberty Luxe (the taller of the two at 32 floors) is going to have a rooftop pool! (ooooh, we likey) and Liberty Green (22 floors) is going to have a decked out roof deck
- The bathrooms and kitchens look nice - we like the bright finishes.
- The pictures of the views are spectacular ~~although we suspect are available from fewer than 25% of the apartments~~

And...the bad?
- No Prices or Floorplans! Come on peeps...don't make us sit through the sales presentation just to get a price list or a glimpse of the square footage. With (we think) over 300 apartments to sell, Milstein has to price VERY aggressively in order for any of us who need a mortgage to actually be able to move in this decade. Let's not forget the plight of One Rector Park and other high profile BPC disasters.

Finally...the unknown?
- The dreaded ground rent! On the minds of any purchaser in Battery Park, we can't wait to see what Milstein has negotiated for the new Liberties. The South BPC Liberties have always had low ground rents for the area, a testament to Milstein's negotiating capabilities. Will Liberty Luxe/Liberty Green follow suit?

Fannie's Back in Battery Park

2010-05-10T04:41:00.000-07:00

While we were out taking a look at some Battery Park apartments this weekend (it's been awhile but we figured we'd see how things have changed since we did this exercise last year), a broker told us that the Fannie issue had in fact been resolved on Friday. We asked for proof and were forwarded this article from a website that we don't ever read, but it sure looks legit.

Last month, Fannie Mae (with zero fanfare incidentally) quietly pulled out of purchasing residential mortgages in Battery Park due to fears regarding the uncertainty of ground rent charges. For our part, we've certainly calmed down about the 25 year reset (happening in 2012 for most buildings) however are still terrified about that looming 40 year reset. In 17 years, ground rent will apparently reset to 6% of your apartment's market value, which makes us both hope and not hope that our apartments are worth like $100 at that time.

And how did those BPC apartments look over the weekend? Well, strangely...renovated. Not sure if it's the market, but we've never seen so much granite and brazilian cherry in those 1980s buildings. Doesn't really go with the nautical theme....

Thoughts on that Crain's Article on BPC

2010-04-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

So one of us has had a heck of a week at work so we haven't been posting much. Today however, we checked the real estate blogs and discovered this frankly weird Crain's article regarding Fannie Mae's apparent suspension of mortgage purchases for loans on condos in Battery Park. Obviously, given the huge inventory right now in BPC (with more coming in the way of the two Milstein buildings), this is very, very bad news for both buyers and sellers as Fannie Mae is pretty much the only game in town right now if you want to get a mortgage.

One thing that we thought was strange about the article is that it seems fairly anecdotal to us - all Fannie Mae was willing to say publicly is that they are "reviewing" ground lease agreements in the area. And even if Fannie stops purchasing mortgages in BPC in the near-term, once the mortgage market thaws out fully, it may not matter in the long run. All that this really means is that if you are a cash buyer and can somehow find that handful of sellers that need to sell RIGHT NOW, you will probably be given a phenomenal deal.

As we've said many times before though, buying in this neighborhood has so little economic justification that we don't really understand why anyone does. After all, you can rent almost any apartment that you would buy, renting is much, much cheaper even in the long run, so....

Coyotes in Battery Park City? Oh Sh*t!

2010-03-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

Did you catch the Battery Park City Broadsheet article that indicated that a coyote was spotted in Rockefeller Park this morning (?*&%$^) at 9AM? For those of you that may not hang out in Rockefeller Park all of the time, this cute, triangular park is in north Battery Park City starting at Chambers Street and going all the way down to the ~~almost bankrupt~~ glitzy Riverhouse.

We walk our dog here all the time. He's small and (we guess) kind of vulnerable to an attack by a coyote. So where did this cotoye come from and (ummmmm....) where did he go exactly? See, the funny thing about the Broadsheet article is that it doesn't exactly tell us if good ol' Wile E. ever got caught . When last we left this, he was being...pursued. So unless Wile E. is hanging out at the abandoned One Rector Park, where he's probably enjoying granite countertops and a balcony, we'd be interested in what ever came of this, you cute little green-uniformed BPC police.

And Speaking of 90 William, Follow Us on the Journey of #5D on Bid On the City

2010-03-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Although we have both blogged in the past regarding listings on the "EBay" of real estate Bid On The City and also followed the experiences of other bloggers with the site, we'd like to get even more up close and personal with this "EBay" as we have always fantasized about buying an apartment at auction (admit it, you have too).

So, after noticing that apartment #5D at 90 William will be going up for auction on April 27, we've decided to follow the process from start to finish. We'll be at the open house and then we'll see how the bidding goes! (heck, we might even bid - the starting price of $579k isn't too bad although we don't see this one going for much higher).

For now, here are some thoughts on the Bid on The City listing:

- Minimum Bid: $579k Our Take - sounds like this is the "Reserve" price to us. If the seller actually gets a bid at $579k, we think he or she should take it. #4D (all of the "D" lines at 90 William are identical) sold for $575k in August of 2009, around 6 months ago. There is no reason to think that pricing has changed significantly since then - if anything, the market is probably a smidge lower. #14D sold for $620k earlier this month. Assuming that you think that each floor is worth around $4500 (sounds reasonable to us, maybe even a bit on the low side), then $579k again seems to be the absolute highest price that anyone should pay for #5D in this market.

- "Original Price": ~~$695k~~ Boy, do we ~~like anyone who crosses stuff out as much as we do~~. Bid On The City lists the "Original Price", crossed out of course, as part of the listing. This tried and true strategy is similar to the 'ol "Half Off Lamps TODAY ONLY at Crazy Larry's" tactic, complete with an impossibly high price paired with a deep discount. So where do they get the Original Price? Well, it looks like it's the highest price that has ever been asked for the unit by the current sellers. In this case, it happens to be the original list price of $695k, even though the apartment was last listed for $670k on Streeteasy.

- The comp: For obvious reasons, the last price at which #5D sold is not listed on Bid on the City. #5D closed in June of 2008 for $656k. According to ACRIS records, the sellers put around 20% down, so any sales price less than $524k would make this a short sale. We're pretty confident though that it won't get to that point.

- The floorplans: Pretty darn snazzy and we love the cute addition of what looks like a partitioned bedroom in the unit. The unit itself is large but doesn't have a particularly partition-friendly layout.

We'll see you at the Open House on 4/18!

Where Are They Now?: 90 William

2010-03-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

When we last visited 90 William back in May 2009 - a mostly sold FiDi conversion that was much much maligned for cheap finishes and dark apartments - we commented on how well-priced the building was (even back then) which was somewhat appropriate given the cave-like spaces.

And here we are, almost one year later and 90 William is...well, SOLD. For the most part, Corcoran has actually managed to sell almost all of the sponsor units, including even the dark ~~as shit~~ available "H" line apartments, which are basically hallways with a window at the end. Of course, most of the units sold at significant discounts to the ask. Notably, the most desirable units (the "A" and "B" line two bedrooms that actually get sun and where you can't do an easy spidey jump out of your window to the neighboring building) sold for the greatest discounts to the ask (usually more than 10% off). We're guessing this had something to do with financing availability (in 2009, someone buying an apartment for greater than $800k had to come up with a lot of cash) but who knows.

Incidentally, #14D, a resale unit that we visited but never wrote about, surprisingly sold for $620k, which was the asking price. This apartment is basically a history of the financial crisis in a single unit. It was purchased in early 2009 for $751k after going into contract (we believe) sometime in 2007 (can you say 'dragged to the closing table'?). The buyer then put the unit back on the market 4 months later at $599k and eventually closed for $620k. The seller's agent kept telling us that this one was "not a short sale", which is true, but only because the buyer put down more than $300k (ouch) on the original transaction.

We've always thought 90 William was a good deal and we aren't particularly surprised that the building has sold out. The fact that there are no washers and dryers in the units and that the "be@spot Sky Deck" ~~come on, seriously~~ is really, really small kept us away from this building, but otherwise kudos 90 William. You can finally break out that champagne that's been chilling since 2007.

Stuffed Cat in Every Single Listing Photo Is Giving Us the Creeps

2010-03-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

We don't normally write about Park Slope, but check out this listing:

333 4th Street, #1A

This 1BR, 1BA for $395k and a maintenance of just $507 (take that lower Manhattan) features a stuffed cat in every single shot. Our favorite features kitty sitting on the toilet a la Meet the Parents, although the ones with the huge row of closets....oh heck, they're all great. Give us this broker's number please, it's great to see someone with a sense of humor out there.

Update: Apparently, this is part of a pattern that we didn't know about. Thanks to Joey at Curbed for forwarding on this link to ghosts of kitties past. Although Arlene's new listing isn't labeled as "purrrfect", it does note that "Pet Are Allowed!" ~~tee hee hee~~

HGTV's "Selling New York" Got Us Thinking About Bragging Rights

2010-03-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

Along with every other real estate junkie in the tri-state area, we tuned in on Thursday night to the much awaited and, we must add, loooong overdue "Selling New York", an HGTV show focused on Manhattan (and we hear, select areas of Brooklyn) real estate. After watching way too many episode of House Hunters in places like Florida ("I need a 10 car garage and my budget is $175k"), Phoenix ("It has to have a pool and my budget is $175k"), and Atlanta ("I need at least 4 bedrooms, 3000 sq ft, and a finished basement and my budget is $175k"), we thought that a show highlighting the unique aspects of the New York City market would be a fan favorite (at least around here) right away.

So even though "Selling New York" looks more like the "The Real Housewives of New York City" (e.g. you won't see desperate couples looking at 500 sq ft nightmares for $600k), it's still an interesting and illuminating show. The young couple (well, young to be buying a $2.3M apartment anyway) who bought in the Scarano Bowery building in particular, got us thinking about the "intangibles" of New York City real estate. Unlike the rest of the country, where people typically buy homes using some form of rational calculation (e.g. is this house worth the price? Can I rent a comparable unit for less?), in New York, people often buy homes for a variety of very irrational factors. Chief among them: bragging rights. We think people just like telling their friends, work colleagues etc. that they own a snazzy apartment in Manhattan. Most likely, they are in a hush-hush competition (as we all are) with their peers, playing a high-end version of that old game that never goes out of style: Keeping Up with the Jones'. While we think that bragging rights is a crazy reason to buy an apartment, we also think that paying $800 for a handbag or $1500 for a pair of boots is similarly insane, however people do that too. All the time.

And the $2.3M couple really got us thinking about this. Not only did they pay the asking price ~~come on, really?~~ for a new construction condo in a building designed by Robert Scarano, an architect who has been banned from ever working in New York City again , the show portrayed the female buyer as actually being swayed toward a $2.3M purchase as a result of...getting tickets to a fashion show. ~~I mean, what?~~. And there you have it. "Selling New York" has perfectly showcased the "brand" buyer. Can't wait to see what they come up with next week.

Is it Just Us or Does it Seem Like All of Battery Park City is on the Market?

2010-03-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

Battery Park has always been a hot topic for us since we love the community but just can't stomach buying anything given the monthly ground rent costs, which are ~~seriously people~~ sometimes almost as high as the rent that you would pay for the equivalent apartment. Talk about throwing money out the window. Yet despite this hurdle, we find ourselves continuing to drift through BPC open houses, looking longingly at cute one and two bedrooms with beautiful water views and balconies in quiet, family-friendly condo buildings. Even our dog likes Battery Park and he's very picky.

We think of Battery Park as having three type of properties:

1980s Condo Buildings in the south (e.g. 2 South End Avenue)
Foreclosed new construction in the south (e.g. Rector Square)
Still ticking new construction in the north (e.g. The Riverhouse)

This post deals only with the 1980s condos, which (fittingly) is where our journey started almost one year ago, when we saw a 908 sq ft 1BR, 1.5BA with a terrace at 21 South End Avenue ("The Regatta"). That apartment by the way (also quite fittingly) is STILL on the market after 184 days with only a minor price reduction and multiple broker switches (peeps, it's not the brokers, it's the price). In fact, for less than the list price of that 1BR you can buy a 2BR, 2.5BA that is 300 sq feet larger in the same ~~damn~~ building. On a higher floor. But really, who do we think we are? After all, logic, comparable listings and sold comps only work on some sellers, as we all know from watching way too many episodes of "Real Estate Intervention" on HGTV.

And speaking of comps, what exactly is going on with these 1980s buildings? One thing that's DEFINITELY changed since the last time that we hit an open house is the inventory. In the Regatta for example, there have only been 3 sales in the entire building over the past year (2 of them for less than $500k) despite the fact that there are currently 15 apartments (or 8% of the total building) on the market. At this pace (boy, is this ever unscientific on our part but still interesting to ponder), it would take 5 years just to sell the apartments that are on the market in that building right now. A similar situation exists at the comparable 2 South End Avenue ("The Cove Club") where 16 apartments (or 10% of the building) are currently on the market.

The other big change since last we poked around these buildings is price. Despite our lament over the continued eyebrow-raising pricing at our seminal 1BR, 1.5BA at The Regatta, many sellers in BPC are dropping and dropping their prices, often to no avail. You can now not only buy a 1BR, 1BA in Battery Park for under $400k, you also have choices within this price range. Similarly, you can buy a large 2BR, 2BA for under $800k. The 1980s buildings now offer many apartments at $650 per sq foot or less, which would put Battery Park pricing in line with desirable Brooklyn neighborhoods.

So...what's the problem? Well, there is of course, a catch. Remember those 1BRs for under $400k? If you take a representative one, such as this listing at 350 Albany St ("Hudson Tower"), even though the price is a very manageable $399K, the monthly carrying cost of the apartment (hello ground rent!) is $1566 or a whopping $2.41 per square foot. If you were to rent this apartment, our guesstimate is that you would pay no more than $2100 per month (and that's the high end folks, we actually think given the glut of rentals in the area that the real rent would be closer to $1950-$2000). So, if you are a cash buyer, you would eke out a tiny profit on the place ($6408 per year), which is a stunning 1.6% return on your $399k. And that does not include transaction costs. OR you could put the $399k in an ING account and earn the same ~~damn~~ thing. Risk-free. Remember the focused dolphin performing math from yesterday's post?

If you actually want to live in your apartment, the math is even worse. The gross monthly payment (with 20% down) will cost you almost $3300, approximately $1200 a month more than renting. There is a tax benefit of course, but it's roughly offset by transaction costs in the beginning and then dwindles over time. And those common charges? They never go away. Evenutally of course, you will break-even. Or will you? Similar to the analysis that we did last summer, we once again ran the numbers through the NYT buy vs. rent calculator and...once again determined that even at $399k, you never breakeven. So at what price point do you break even in a reasonable timeframe? Turns out that it's right around $250k where you will break even after a mind-numbingly long wait of 17 short years.

And....we're back!

2010-03-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

So...hi everyone...it's ummm...been awhile. Even though we feel a little sheepish at how long it's been ~~hello August 2009, are you there? It's us Downtowny~~ since we've posted on our beloved real estate blog, we are in fact back.

First of all, we'd really like to say "thanks!" to everyone who sent us emails encouraging us to continue to write. We started Downtowny almost a year ago as a way to chronicle our Manhattan real estate search and have met many extraordinary readers ~~and characters~~ along the way, many of whom wrote to us to tell us how much they love the blog (we heart you too).

So why did we stop writing in the middle of this lovefest? Well, it's going to sound super boring (which it is) but basically, we got kind of tired of looking for an apartment. See, right around mid-summer last year we were faced with a typical New York City choice: do we buy a ~~tiny overpriced shithole that our families will laugh at when they come to visit~~ downtown 1BR now or do we sign another one year lease and wait?

Although we hate to admit it, last summer it was an easy decision. In a rental market filled with concessions galore and facing a sales market filled with unrealistic sellers galore, we happily renewed our lease (at at 17% reduction to the prior year, thank you very much) and said "buh-bye" to searching for a hidden gem in the inflated downtown market.

Fast forward 6 months, and we must say, things look a lot better (though still not good enough) for us buyers. Even though we stopped "officially" looking for an apartment more than 6 months ago, we've never quite managed to kick our real estate habit and so now, feeling rejuvenated and slightly punchy, we are back in the game.

So stay tuned, as over the next few weeks, we are going to look back on some of our favorite buildings and properties. Some have sold at prices we never thought imaginable, but most have experienced a path downward to price points that a ~~chimp or a focused dolphin~~ person with a calculator and the ability to determine whether x is larger than y could have easily predicted even 6 months ago.

We missed telling you our stories and we really missed hearing yours! Thanks for hanging in there while we've gotten our shit together - don't hesitate to drop us a line and let us know how you've been!

We're on Vacation!...In Red Hook?

2009-08-25T16:37:00.001-07:00

It's the dog days of August and even our normally persistent quest for entertaining downtown real estate tidbits is slowing down as we are finally getting around to taking some vacation! So, you might ask, what does a downtown real estate blogger do on vacation? Well, in addition to going to the beach, we go see real estate in other areas of course!

If you read this blog regularly, you know that we are looking to buy a Lower Manhattan apartment but are completely horrified (yes, still) by the price point of many apartments that we've seen. Ground floor studios for $500k? Check. 1BRs for over $1 million? Check. 6th floor walk-ups for almost $900k? Check. New construction without washers/dryers in the unit? Yep, check. So...given this ummm...pricing situation, we thought that while we had a bit of time on our hands, we'd try to answer the age old question that we (and many other Manhattanites) ponder at least occassionally: Exactly how much is our Manhattan location worth to us?

Or alternatively, is the amount of space that we can get in say Brooklyn or New Jersey for a lower price actually worth leaving Manhattan for? We'll post about our experiences in the outer boroughs semi-regularly, but we thought we'd kick it off with the most interesting one.

A couple of weeks ago, we finally visited Red Hook, an area of Brooklyn that was the location for The Real World: Brooklyn (yes, this turns us on), is home to Ikea (we can't believe it was so close all this time), a huge Fairway, and a warehouse-y but cute waterfront area. Granted, there are maybe like 6 bars and restaurants in all of Red Hook, but it seems promising and doesn't have a glut of new construction (are you listening FiDi?) or really, any new construction at all. We were surprised therefore, to come upon a listing for the King Richard Carriage Houses, a set of five brand-new townhouse-like units at the intersection of King and Richards (gosh, just like William Beaver) in Red Hook.

Instead of just trying to get Curbed to link to our articles for a change, we actually used the site (isn't it so great?) to find out that the carriage houses were converted by an area resident from a single story garage to four four-story homes (and one smaller, three story residence). Priced between $699,000 - $899,000 (yes, the previously reported price chops have been, well, further chopped) and boasting 1,200 - 2,000 sq feet, ample outdoor space and attached garage parking (did we win the lotto?), these seemed umm...super duper given that for a similar amount we can purchase a tiny 1BR ~~dump~~ without a W/D in that ~~311 Greenwich~~Tribeca building surrounded by McDonald's and a Subway. Of course, this is Red Hook (not Tribeca) and even though Tribeca just welcomed Manhattan's first Checkers (and is already home to a Taco Bell and a Subway), Red Hook is ~~how shall we put this?~~ comparatively still quite gritty. PBS actually has a very good account of some of the history of Red Hook and the unfortunate divide that still exists in the neighborhood today. While off of the waterfront area, the King Richard Carriage Houses are located within walking distance of Red Hook's main strip (really folks, it's just like three blocks) of quite friendly local bars and restaurants (where we're pretty sure everybody knows your name).

Anywho, on to the houses themselves. We started with the most expensive townhouse (which is also the model unit). Listed for $899,000 (down from more than $1.1 million originally), the unit has an attached garage (basically, imagine a garage in your living room) which actually gets the best light in the entire living area via picturesque glass and iron doors. The house also features four (very steep) floors of living space. In fact, we couldn't believe how vertical this residence is as we climbed and climbed the four full stories from the living room to the master bedroom. The finishes in the unit are decent - a nice open kitchen, attractive bathrooms and decent hardwood flooring.

We never thought we'd say this, but there is so much outdoor space in this unit that there's almost no point to it. All three of the bedrooms have their own large (rubberized) balconies and that is in addition to a huge roof deck. Unlike other townhouses however, these units do not have a garden, we think because the plot is too small to support both a large living area and ground-level outdoor space. $0 in maintenace plus around $2800 per year of property taxes (take that Battery Park!) made us start fantasizing about actually building equity (instead of throwing money away on worthless ground rent, property taxes, and common charges for things like an outdoor rain shower that we don't give a hoot about). Overall though, although we liked the houses, they're just too darn vertical for us (who the heck wants to climb all of those stairs, which are btw, an obstacle to kids, parents and even, like an aging pet) and we really, really don't want to make food in the kitchen and then have to climb 40 feet to serve it outside.

But we liked Red Hook. Even though it's far from any subway stop, the closest of which is 7 minutes by car, we can take the ferry to Wall Street and we think the neighborhood has real character and an extraordinary amount of potential.

Quick Hit: Funny Google Search of the Week

2009-08-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

We don't know if we'll keep posting these (guess it depends on the content that we get) but occasionally we get some truly funny Google searches that result in people visiting Downtowny.

This week's funniest:

"What does it mean when someone calls you a truffle?"

We truly have no idea, but we're pretty sure that they're not trying to say that you are a pajama-clad supermodel hanging out in some rental residents' lounge, as per the Truffles Tribeca shot above.

60% of Homeowners Think Their Home's Value has Decreased in the Prior Year

2009-08-18T15:16:00.001-07:00

We were fascinated by this Zillow survey done once per quarter, asking homeowners what their perceptions are of the housing market.

Shockingly (really), just 60% of homeowners believe that their home prices decreased in the prior year, when in actuality, 83% of homes declined in price ~~duh~~. In fact, the Zillow blog notes that "For three quarters in a row, homeowners have effectively called a bottom, with the majority thinking their home's value will not decline any further." Oops....

It's amazing to us that homeowners are STILL not caught up on the reality of this market. Will the market come back one day? Yes, of course. Is it going to be next year? We personally don't think so and most analysts agree with us with consensus seeing another 10-15% nationwide drop in housing prices before we hit a bottom.

But then again, it's not like anybody is trying to sell a 6th floor walk-up for almost $900,000 here in Lower Manhattan, right? Oh...wait.

Downtown Manhattan for Under $600 per sq foot?

2009-08-12T10:40:00.001-07:00

We found ourselves pondering the sub-$600 per sq foot price chopper question when we noticed yesterday that a couple of Battery Park one BRs have quietly drifted down to this attractive price range in the past couple of weeks. So what can we get for less than $600 per sq ft in our typical neighborhood (real estate) haunts? Not much, it turns out. Although a StreetEasy search returned 56 downtown (south of 14th Street) properties priced at $600 per sq foot or less, a full 39 of those (or almost 70%) were located in the traditionally cheaper, older and grittier Lower East Side, with most units located in the Co-op Village complex of ~~Soviet-era~~ apartments .

What about the other 17 listings? In most neighborhoods (including Tribeca, which has 5 listings for under $600 per sq foot), these cheap-o units are either full-building residential development opportunities (creepy horror houses that you can convert to condos), flat out commercial units or mixed use (fulfill your dreams of selling handmade jewelry and Statue of Liberty tiaras right out of your apartment). There are however, a handful of legitimate residential units for under $600 per sq ft. Here are some highlights:

Financial District: We were quite surprised to discover that much maligned (but currently In Contract) 55 Liberty St., #PH, the attic-like 3rd floor walk-up penthouse that we visited twice in the spring is the only unit in FiDi that's listed for less than $600 per sq ft ($599 to be exact).

Battery Park City: Battery Park is home to three pretty cute 1 BRs, all listed for less than $600 per sq ft. Of course the maintenance on these places is enough to make you ~~pee in your pants~~ take pause. We were surprised that the 2BRs in BPC were not yet in the $600 per sq ft range, since the higher priced market is worse and the common charges in many BPC buildings are allocated at a higher percentage for 2BRs.

East Village: Nada. Nothin' doin' in the East Village in this price range (except for three pseudo-commercial units). Were we surprised? Well, actually yeah. StreetEasy.com considers Alphabet City ~~don't you have anything better to do than sit outside on your plastic chair and comment on my sweater?~~ as part of the East Village and we were certainly thinking that some of those units around Avenue D would be ~~cheap as sh*t~~ priced to reflect the current market.

Where Can You Get an FHA-Approved Loan in Downtown Manhattan?

2009-08-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

There was a whole lotta buzz today about this WSJ editorial that warns of huge impending risks at Ginnie Mae, the organization that bundles and sells loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. The editorial argues that the FHA, which claims that it "costs the taxpayer nothing" ~~ha ha ha ha~~ is on the hook for $560 billion worth of mortgages which have a default rate of 7% ~~very, very high~~ and a delinquency rate of 13% ~~ditto~~. By this measure, the FHA is leveraged at 33 to 1, similar to the pre-collapse Bear Stearns and clearly staring into the abyss of yet another f*ing housing crisis. So what exactly is the FHA?

Well, the FHA does not itself originate mortgages, however it backs mortgages originated by a variety of "FHA-approved" lenders. FHA loans (which kind of became an anachronism during the ~~do I really need an income to borrow $1 million~~ credit boom) were originally intended to help increase American homeownership, at a time when just 4 out of 10 Americans actually owned their own homes (today that statistic is closer to 7 out of 10). Like many government anachronisms, the FHA is still around today and offers borrowers with less-than-perfect credit and only 3.5% down the opportunity to own their own home ~~Countrywide worked on a similar model except there it was 0% down and no income verification.~~

For single-family homes, FHA evaluates only the lender and the borrower - as long as the buyer qualifies for an FHA-backed loan from an FHA-approved lender, the mortgage is good to go, regardless of the property. For condos, the situation is different. The FHA must actually approve the underlying condo building itself. You cannot get an FHA-approved loan in a building that is not itself FHA-approved. So...can you get in on this racket in downtown Manhattan?

Well, it turns out that unlike every other mortgage ~~or regular~~ broker scheme to get you into any darn unit whether you're qualified or not, the FHA-approval route mostly escaped the attention of downtown condos. In fact, in all of Lower Manhattan, there are just two FHA-approved buildings, one in the Financial District, and one in "Two Bridges" ~~which we only sort of recognize as a legit neighborhood anyway~~. The Two Bridges condo is affordable housing and the FiDi condo is 330 Pearl Street, a tiny 10 unit building that we actually visited and saw an FSBO in several months ago, although it appears that the unit never sold. 330 Pearl currently has no units on the market according to StreetEasy.com.

Stay tuned though, lots of stories out there about developers just itching to get in to the FHA pipeline, although none so far in Lower Manhattan.

What Happened to NYT's "Residential Sales Around the Region"?

2009-08-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

We have twice poked fun of the New York Times for the strange inaccuracies in some of the "sales" that are listed in the "Residential Sales Around the Region" column of the weekly "Real Estate" section. This section profiles (by region) sales in various price ranges. We have never quite been able to figure out what the New York Times means by "sale" since sometimes these sales are verifiable in ACRIS and other times, just seem to be pulled out of ~~a broker's press release~~ thin air. For example, we still haven't seen a city filing for the supposed sales at 60 Beach Street and 101 Warren that we previously wrote about.

So, even though we thought the section was sometimes blatantly inaccurate (such as the reported $745,000 sale of a 20 Pine 2 bedroom, 2 bath ~~isn't there like, an intern that could have checked that out?~~ that was actually a small 1 bedroom), we kind of liked the section and are surprised that it seems to be gone from the New York Times. In the era of ACRIS and Streeteasy, you might argue that publishing residential sales isn't really necessary anymore, however we tend to agree with this poster on Streeteasy who notes, "I'll miss seeing the sales I'd never otherwise see...[like in] Rockland County." (touche, touche)

New York Times, 'sup? Are you guys done with this section for good?

An Alternative to Floor Plans: Grainy 1960s-era Broker Headshot!

2009-08-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

We just had to do a quick post on this new Nestseekers listing at 120 Greenwich , which features a blurry headshot of (we imagine) the lead sales agent as the "curb appeal" photo of the mystery unit.

Oh well, we guess the retrolicious photo featuring the cute as a button broker with a "flip" hairdo and a sensible blouse might be worth a shot to get traffic into the door at this building that has sold all of one unit this year.

Our Very First Viewing Just Sold...Quite Fittingly for 24% Less than the 2006 Price

2009-08-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

As we noted in a prior post, 120 Greenwich Street, #12F is the first apartment that we ever saw in our quest for a downtown Manhattan residence. We still remember ~~like it was yesterday~~ our sweaty palms as we walked up to the doorman, hearts beating, not quite knowing (yet) what exactly to say to gain entry to our first open house. We remember looking down at our nice shoes, manicured fingernails, and expensive handbags thinking that we "looked the part" of serious buyers, which we thought was important back then. We remember making sure that we didn't look too sweaty in the lobby mirror as we entered the elevator on our ride up to meet the seller's broker, whom we envisioned as a mix between the cheerleader that never liked us in high school and that craigslist guy that ripped us off in 2004.

We found ourselves wishing that we had a buyer's broker. Someone who would appear knowledgeable on our behalf, a Harry Potter-like Patronus, if you will, that when conjured would appear in deer form (or whatevs) and protect us from the seller's broker ~~who we bet can speak with snakes~~.

We remember the elevator doors opening. We "looked cool" we thought as we headed down the hallway, not knowing quite what to expect from a $719,000 one bedroom in an area of the Financial District that we'd never quite been to. As we opened the door to the apartment, we were met by the realtor, who looked kind of like Severus Snape, with a sensible purse instead of a wand.

"How long have you been looking?" Snape said as we wandered around the shockingly tiny space. "2 minutes" we wanted to blurt out, but instead said "oh, for a little while" as we took in the strangely shaped living room attached to an ample kitchen. We had no idea what to ask. As we stared at the floor plan, we wondered whether $1,034 was high or low for common charges. "It's tax abated!" Snape said brightly, breaking the silence in the air. "Expecto Patronum!" we wanted to yell, as we struggled to figure out exactly what "tax abated" meant and how we should appear to digest this information in order to maximize our appearance of seriousness and knowledge.

We continued into the bedroom, which was light-filled ~~and tiny~~. Snape pointed out the decent closet space while we looked at the bathroom and wanted to scream "Are you kidding us? $719k? For this???", but instead, we just nodded blankly and moved back into the living room. We wanted to see the private outdoor space that came with this unit (located fascinatingly on the roof but not attached to the actual apartment), but were too afraid to ask the busy looking Snape to show us. On our way out, Snape asked us to sign the sign-in sheet and as we were doing so, we were informed that there were "multiple offers" on this particular unit, which we were too inexperienced to identify as insane lowballs, which would be why the unit was having an open house ~~duh~~.

After this experience, we became ever determined to figure out how to navigate open houses (and everything else for that matter). We started Downtowny shortly thereafter to help other buyers do the same.

So...whatever did happen to 120 Greenwich #12F (our seminal apartment)? Well, it turns out that the little bugger did in fact sell, in mid-July as a matter of fact, for a mere $610,000, or about 15% less than it's listing price when we saw the unit back in February. Even more interesting, the $610,000 selling price represents a 24% reduction from the apartment's purchase price in October of 2006. "Expecto Patronum" indeed we murmured.

2006 Pricing Continues at Battery Park's Millenium Tower

2009-08-05T11:24:00.001-07:00

After we first wrote about the lowest sale ever at Battery Park's Ritzy ~~get it?~~ Millenium Tower, where a 1BR sold in June for 22% less than it's mid-2007 sale price, we started watching this building for further discounts. We now have a brand new sale, a high-floor "C" line 1,150 sq ft. 2 bedroom, 2 bath which sold at the end of July for just $987,000, or almost 20% off of the most recent ask of $1.225 million and about 18% off of the Q1 2007 sales price. The earliest "C" line sale occurred in December of 2006, with #7C (a lower floor unit) selling for $975,000.

To us, this apartment really brings home what every broker has been telling us for months, "just make an offer" people - you never know what's going to stick.

Is this a Hallway or an Apartment?

2009-08-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

When we looked at this ~~Alphabet City Fringe~~ East Village listing today, we were kind of curious about the dramatic series of price drops that this ground floor, 575 sq ft. studio has seen. Originally listed in January of 2008 for $600,000, this apartment is currently on the market for just $459,000, a 24% decline in asking price.

Although $459k is still too high for a smallish studio between Avenues B and C, we were intrigued by the listing photos, which show beautiful flooring and two types of exposed brick. It was only when we clicked over to the floorplan that we realized that the apartment has the approximate dimensions of a hallway, with a large chunk of the space measuring at just 8'2" wide (huh?). Don't forget to check out the weird bathroom that's off of the kitchen (we're not sure the hallway fridge really counts as a "kitchen" anyway) and how you have to walk through the "sleeping area" to get to the kitchen AND the bathroom. This all combines to make this layout one of the strangest that we've ever seen in this price range.

And Speaking of Buy vs. Rent Analysis...

2009-08-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

After we did our own little buy vs. rent analysis on a typical Battery Park one bedroom, demonstrating that sales prices need to fall dramatically for buying to make economic sense, we read this Curbed piece by Jonathan Miller, featuring rather doomsday graphs which should both have a caption reading:

"If you look at our own damn charts, the sales price/rental price ratio is still at historical highs. Until this situation corrects itself, buying an apartment is hard to justify. Duh."

Instead, the commentary from Jonathan Miller is ~~how do we put this nicely?~~...cryptic, to say the least, leading us to conclude ~~that a real estate appraisal firm isn't just going to come out Jim Cramer-style and say "Don't Buy! Don't Buy!~~ absolutely nothing from these findings.

Even the 50 paying renters at the Curbed (love) moderated panel on Thursday featuring Jonathan Miller and Prudential CEO Dottie Herman, were having trouble getting unbiased advice. Billed as an event to help people navigate the rental market, the Tribeca evening deteriorated rather quickly into yet another ~~sales pitch~~ discussion on how now is the time to buy ~~zzzzz~~.

Asked one (we imagine) frustrated renter hoping to actually learn something about rentals for his $12 entrance fee - what if I just can't buy? Dottie actually replied that "buying with friends" is a viable option. Charming.

Tim Geithner, Unable to Sell House and Just a Smidge Colorblind Too

2009-07-31T15:11:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

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Home Crisis Investigation

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Most of us know by now that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is famously having trouble selling his own ~~damn~~ house out in Westchester County, which he bought for $1.6 million in 2004 and is trying to unload for a slightly higher price now. The Daily Show picked up on this in the hilarious clip above, which features Case-Shiller's Robert Shiller helping the Timster pick out new bathroom tiles among other wonders.