I posted on Facebook about my task and I received a  bunch of ideas. The easiest one was contacting, The Car Seat Lady. Emily, one of the partners quickly emailed me back and told me where to meet her on Saturday morning, 9am in front of the fire hydrant, between Broadway and Riverside drive.

On my way to learn how to put a car seat into the car, properly!

If your tooth hurt and it needed to be removed, would you pull it yourself or go to some cheap dentist? I think you know that answer………………Go with a pro.

You want a flip tax~

It amazes me that when I bring a buyer to a co-op in NYC and they ask the seller’s agent, “Is there a flip tax?”

Usually, if applicable, the seller’s agent proudly says that the building does not have a flip tax, which is a great thing…………………..WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!

*note- most buildings do have a flip, just not all of the co-op in NYC.

I know as a co-op owner that the dreaded day will come when we go to sell and we will have to write a giant check to our beloved co-op for the privilege of living there. But you know what? It is really a good thing. The flip taxes go directly into the reserve fund and can be used when and if there is a problem with the elevator, roof, boiler or other capital improvements.

If there is not a flip tax imposed in the building and the reserve fund does not grow magically, as some would hope. Then when there is a capital improvement, guess what? You will be assessed in addition to your maintenance or your maintenance will increase due to theses projects. The current average maintenance cost is now around $1.60-1.65 per square foot in NYC. If you are creeping up over the $2.10 or north of $2.10 per square foot and don’t have a flip tax, don’t say I never told you. GET IT FIXED NOW!

Flip Taxes are a good thing and if your co-op does not have one, get on the board of directors and make it happen.

I have seen so many building where the maintenance is well over the city average and it directly negatively affects the sale price of the units.

We are so pleased to let everyone know that the Zweben Group was named in the top 25 agents out of approximately 3500 Douglas Elliman agents in NYC.

We continue to put our customers first and we remain the focused, honest and caring full service agents that you deserve!

Baby Z's 1st bib

 Even our baby that is arriving very soon is ready to help~

When you need us, we are her pzweben@elliman.com

A taste of what we sold last year- 450 West 17th street- The Caledonia

Here is the list of units that we represented buyers and sellers for 2011~~~

This is what my wife wrote to many of our friends, which sums it all up.

Hi Guys, we wanted to share with you that our sweet Randolph had a turn for the worse, his doggy “meningitis” had still not gone into remission yet but after 8 weeks of strong steroid/azathioprine therapy his intestines were shot, he got diarrhea and constant vomiting about 17 days ago which they managed to control with meds on and off but as soon as meds stopped it started again. Ultra sound a week ago showed nothing and then an x ray midweek revealed an obstruction in his intestine as well as deterioration..another surgery after 8 weeks of immune suppression had its very serious consequences and with the meningitis still lurking, not to mention how weak and frail/sad he looked we just felt we couldn’t put him through anymore..his year and 8 month life was riddled with tramadol, metacam, prednisone, azathioprine and the new ones from past two weeks which I can’t even remember, plus paw aches, joint and spinal pain. It was really hard because after so long and so much invested in his getting better we truly just didn’t want to give up on him…he was our baby, my angel and Paul’s monkey.  He went peacefully in my arms last week. We are devastated and heartbroken the house feels so incredibly empty and cold, we just hope our last golden Stoli, was waiting for him on the other side to play.

We will always have a special place in our hearts for you, dear Randolph!
Man and his dog, Mommy and her dog…….the bond is so strong in good or bad!

Trust Thy Real Estate Agent-

When we represent buyers and sellers we try to put ourselves in their places.

How would we want to be treated?

How quickly would we want a response, whether it was good or bad news?

How well versed are they in the current residential sales market?

Can they focus on our needs?

Can they give us the time that we need to make an intelligent purchase or smart sale?

Would  we trust our agent????

            It doesn’t take long when we meet people in a service industry to figure out if you can trust that provider or not. The minute I met our contractor that put together both of our apartments, I knew that when he looked at me in the eye and said something would get done, it did.

            That is the same way we strive to protect our customer’s interests. We quickly create a bond and a trust and move forward with a “whatever it takes attitude” to get the job done……..It is how we would want to be treated if we were on the other side. Just listen to an interview with one of our customers, Amy. It was an immediate bond and an immediate trust.

Maybe Bugs Bunny can make a deal?

If you met me for a beer, I could not regurgitate the bullet points of the NBA lockout, but I could tell you a few things~

Both sides are digging their heels………. what they each need to do is have a third party sit down with them in a neutral environment; perhaps a nice Dive bar. That third party (someone who negotiates for a living) like a real estate agent would then go over the issues and say, “do you really want to close on this deal or do you want to walk away?”

The majority of parties in any deal want the deal to be done, especially when you can see how close each side is on getting g to an agreement. What are they gonna do. Adjourn the closing? Walk away from their deposit? Threaten each other emotionally or physically? (Yes I have actually seen this happen)

I was recently at a closing that was nearing 6 hours and all of the attorneys looked at me and said, there was no way this transaction was closing.

I knew they all wanted to close, just like the NBA players and owners. I thought of some unique scenarios and in hour number 7, the seller and buyer closed the deal.

So my message to the owners and players~

You both want to have a season! You don’t want to continue to the lock out!

It does not matter whose D**ks are bigger.

This is not just about the players and owners. It is about all of the ancillary people that rely on the NBA to be able to put food on their tables to feed their families.

Oh- and don’t forget the fans!!!!!!

The NBA needs me to make this deal happen!

Buying power and the refi.

Let’s say that two years ago you wanted to spend $1,000,000 on a two bedroom condo in New York City.

Your monthly taxes and common charges were $1920 per month.

You put $300,000 down and got a $700,000 mortgage.

The mortgage rate would have been about 5.191% for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage and your monthly payments would have $3839.89 and your total monthly expenses for your condo would have been $5759.39.

Now let’s buy that same apartment today.

The price is still $1,000,000

Your monthly taxes and common charges went up a bit and are now $2100 per month.

You still put down $300,000 and still got a $700,000 mortgage.

The mortgage rate would be 4% for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage and your monthly payments would be $3341.91 and your total monthly expenses for your condo would be $5441.91.

That is a savings of $317.48 per month, $3809.76 over the year and $114,292.80 savings over the life of the 30 year mortgage.

So my question to you, is, “What are you waiting for to refi your current loan?

Or your buying power just went up because of the lower rates from two years ago….Time to jump in!

Your slice of NYC!

The Manhattan market continues to be one of the better performing housing markets in the country, despite the turmoil we read about every day. Housing prices showed continued stability this quarter consistent with the past several years. Condo sales activity benefited from an increase in demand as foreign buyers took advantage of the weak US Dollar, while entry-level sales increased as buyers took advantage of falling mortgage rates. Although we will continue to face economic challenges going forward, we anticipate continued seasonal stability through the end of the year.

An amazing chefs kitchen with a sick nyc view!

Here is the full third quarter report from Prudential Douglas Elliman:

http://assets.prudentialelliman.com/NYCPhotos/retail_reports/Manhattan_Q3_2011.pdf

Did you know?

Not a single day that goes by in my life that someone asks me how is the New York City Residential market doing?

Of course there are 4 different paths we need to determine before I answer.

Are you:
A buyer
A seller
A renter
Or an investor

Once I know which one you are on, I can then give you my opinion of the market.

Let’s face it- the stock market has felt like the Cyclone Roller Coaster for the entire 3rd quarter of 2011.
Unemployment has been high for quite some time.
The US debt is a disaster.
No one gets along in the White house, and the debt issues in Greece, Spain and Italy are not going away.

But have no fear, I am an optimist and there is some strong data that continues to keep me bullish on the New York City Residential market.

1- mortgage rates have not been this low since 1952.
2- the average mortgage interest rate over the last 60 years is 8.92%. (We are now sub 4% in certain mortgage products)
3- there is only so much land on this island to build on and we are not going to build on Central Park or Riverside Park.
4- Only 39% of all housing in New York City is NOT Rentals.
5-inventories for apartments on the market for sale remain low.
6-our rate of unemployment is still below the national average.
7-wall street bonus money was $20.8B in 2010 and hopefully it will be somewhere near that level in 2011.
8-There is a direct correlation between office space demand and housing. If companies are looking for more square feet to work in, as many are, those new employees will need places to live.
(Ex. Jefferies, Google)
The overall vacancy rate for office spaces in NYC is just above 11%. It has been improving since topping out at 13.5% during the recent downturn, but is still slightly elevated from the historical average of 11% since 1991.
9-there has been a slight uptick in building permits.
10-Sales volume of apartments has picked up dramatically.

All these facts continue to keep me bullish in this market. Do not look at your home as an investment 1st, look at it as your home and over the long term, that home will be a pretty darn good investment.

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