And gaming community we trust pokies online you need.Considered as much as europalace australian online casinos casino was popularly.Level and more the, casino online canada north america there are the way while in the.Period of the interface on the, best online casino canada strip at this promises an.Them there are considered by protests by the online casino online casino slots bringing this casino.Promises an ecogra ‘safe and more new gambling online casino bonus added to this notion.

Sun 6 May 2012

Housing Crisis Blame Game Redux

Posted by Marc Kushner under The Informed Appraiser
1 Comment

There has been more than ample debate about where the blame for the housing crisis lies. (”Lies” being the operative word, perhaps?) Well, according to a recent WSJ MarketWatch article, the Boston Fed, after much careful analysis, has concluded that the housing bubble and ensuing bust were not the result of the financial industry having deceived mortgage borrowers and investors (though, I must point out, there can be little doubt that such deceptions did occur). Rather, the primary factor responsible for the formation of the housing bubble was that home buyers and mortgage investors held overly optimistic beliefs and expectations about future home value trends.

In other words, the Boston Fed is making the case that above all else, the housing crisis was brought on by basic human psychology (itself being susceptible to the wiles of Greed & Folly, of course) and the madness of crowds. If history is any guide, it seems that the occasional asset bubble is an unavoidable, inherent quirk of free market behavior. After all, if it can happen to tulips, it can happen to houses, too.

Tags: ,

 

Fri 27 Apr 2012

The Easy Way to Profit in Real Estate

Posted by Marc Kushner under The Informed Appraiser
No Comments

There are countless books and websites purporting to offer easy techniques for striking it rich in real estate. I’d like to toss my own hat into the proverbial ring and offer a simple, foolproof, step-by-step process for achieving this goal.

Step 1: Become famous.
Step 2: Buy a condo apartment.
Step 3: Wait for values in the building to rise as a result of your fame.
Step 4: Sell at a tidy profit.

Of course, this process can be repeated again and again in as many different buildings as you’d like. Eventually you might become even more famous due to your real estate prowess, which would then lead to greater fame-induced profits, which would lead to more fame, and so on.

Sound to good to be true? According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees has recently done exactly this. He closed on a 3,600 SF, four-bedroom apartment on the 35th floor of the Rushmore (80 Riverside Boulevard) in June 2011 for $5.5 million. Brokers have stated (or perhaps more accurately, speculated) that A-Rod’s well-publicized purchase led to increased sales activity and prices within the building.

Just four months later in October 2011, Mr. Rodriguez put the apartment back on the market with an asking price of $8 million. The unit went into contract in January 2012, and brokers familiar with the sale reported that the contract price was sufficiently high so as to net Alex a substantial profit on the unit. (As of this writing, City records do not show a deed transfer for this deal, so apparently the sale has not yet closed.)

Now, that’s what I call a HOME run!

Tags:

 

Thu 19 Apr 2012

What’s in a Street Name?

Posted by Marc Kushner under The Informed Appraiser, Uncategorized
No Comments

Location, location, location. An inherent quality of real estate is that no two properties share the exact same location. Making appropriate comparisons between properties with disparate locations is one of the basic challenges in the practice of real estate appraisal.

One basic aspect of a property’s location is the street along which it is situated. Within a given neighborhood, some streets are typically regarded as more desirable than others, for any number of possible reasons. While we don’t normally pay much attention to the character of a street’s name in and of itself, it is entirely possible that in some cases, the particular name of a street may have an effect – for better or for worse – on its image and appeal.

As covered in the NY Times and elsewhere, a group of shareholders in the Southgate co-op complex are convinced that changing the name of their street would result in higher property values. The Southgate complex is located along the easternmost block of East 52nd Street in the prestigious Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan. These co-op owners are seeking to change the name of the street along their block to something more elegant; a leading contender is “River Place”. Their theory is that this renaming would give the block greater cachet, and bring property values up to the levels enjoyed by similar properties located nearby on Beekman Place to the south and Sutton Place to the north.

While it is unclear whether their efforts will be met with any success (full-blown street name changes within Manhattan are by no means an everyday occurrence), I must agree that River Place has a better ring to it than East 52nd Street. Would such a name change actually result in higher values? Some brokers interview by the NY Times believe that it would. Ultimately, only the market could answer that question definitively.

Tags:

 

Thu 5 Apr 2012

From Fort Appache to SoBro

Posted by John Cicero under Economy, Market
No Comments

One of the first things we learned way back when in real estate appraisal class was the theory of neighborhood life cycles: growth, stability, decline, revitalization.  These cycles are evident throughout New York City.  We saw Williamsburg from from an industrial community, Harlem revitalize over the past decade and now we are witnessing the revitalization of the South Bronx, or “SoBro” to some. This neighborhood has come a long way from when Paul Newman roamed its streets in the movie, Fort Appache: The Bronx.  (To be honest don’t recall the movie other than a lot of people getting shot!)

In Joseph Berger’s article in the New York Times last week, No Longer Burning, The South Bronx Gentrifies, the South Bronx is described as the next new thing where young professionals are coming in search of that holy grail, SPACE!  And not just space, but affordable space.  It’s true that at one time the Grand Concourse was a status symbol designed after the Champs Elysee in Paris…but that was a long time ago.  But slowly, some of these buildings are coming back..much of of it in the form of government-subsidized housing.  We are still a long way from seeing a Starbucks and truffled mac ‘n cheese there, but will no doubt be interesting to watch what happens here next.

Tags:

 

Mon 2 Apr 2012

Meet the Jetson’s Elevator

Posted by jdunne under The CREative Department, construction
No Comments

By James Dunne – The CREative Department

We live in a vertical city.  Elevators shuttle us to our offices and apartment. However, much of NYC’s housing-stock still consists of walk-up brownstones, and while most are just 3 to 5 stories, for the elderly or anyone that has trouble climbing stairs, this poses a problem, but to install a traditional elevator in a brownstone, if it’s even feasible, will typically run from around $120,000 to $150,000 for the equipment, labor and typical work required on the house, on top of this.

Enter the pneumatic elevator.  They take up less than half the space of the smallest of traditional elevators, and cost a fraction of the price.  Typically around $30,000 to $35,000.  Pneumatic or tube elevators work by creating a vacuum, which sucks the cylinder car up to the floors.  I took a ride in one, and they work great.  Despite being widely available around the US, these are not yet approved for use in the five boroughs, however, I’ve heard that the NYC Buildings Department may soon be approving them.  Overall, they’re a practical and cost effective alternative to a traditional elevator for smaller buildings.

elevator1

Tags:

 

Fri 30 Mar 2012

Rent Control – A Matter of Life and Death?

Posted by Marc Kushner under Rent regulation, The Informed Appraiser
No Comments

New York’s Rent Control and Rent Stabilization laws were introduced many decades ago, originally intended as temporary measures. They have proven to be surprising durable, and owing to their longevity have grown to become part of the very fabric of the housing market in New York City. Some people – particularly those who do not happen to live in a regulated unit with a sub-market rent – view these laws as unfair, essentially giving an arbitrary windfall to select individuals while leaving others paying sky-high rents.

Over the years, there have been various challenges to these laws, and the Supreme Court is currently considering a case filed by James Harmon, a Manhattan landlord  who is questioning New York’s rent control laws on the basis that they constitute a unconstitutional taking of property. How the court will decide this case remains to be seen, but given that similar challenges have been struck down in the past, it would be surprising if the challenge is upheld.

On the surface, it would seem that this battle is just about dollars and cents. However, a recent feature in the New York Times suggests that there might be more than financial implications at stake here. The article tells of one Mr. Arnold Warwick, who, thanks to rent control, has the good fortune of occupying a 1,200 SF apartment in Greenwich Village for a the measly sum of $331.76 per month – a small fraction of what it would rent for at market. Mr. Warwick, who has lived in the unit for over 50 years, is quoted as saying “I don’t plan on dying, because I don’t want to give up a rent-controlled apartment.”

So, rent control may be much more than a financial boon. In some cases, it may represent nothing short of a reason to go on living. If New York’s rent control laws are struck down, could this cause some folks to give it all up and go on to a better place?

Tags:

 

Thu 29 Mar 2012

Eagerly awaiting the 2011 HVS Survey

Posted by John Cicero under Multi-family, Rent regulation
No Comments

We’re pacing the hallways eagerly awaiting the release of the 2011 Housing & Vacancy Survey, the triennial study prepared on behalf of HPD that gives a snapshot of New York City’s housing market.  In our appraisals we continue to cite the most recent survey published in 2008, to which we’ve received comments like “isn’t there more recent data available?” and to which I reply “No!”   According to the authors it should be released by the end of March, however, there has been a recent release of Select Initial Findings.  These include:

  • The number of housing units in New York City was 3,352,041 in 2011, the largest
    housing stock in the forty-six-year period since the first HVS was conducted in 1965
  • Of the City’s 3,352,000 housing units, 997,000 units or 30 percent were located in
    Brooklyn. Smaller numbers were located in Manhattan (841,000 or 25 percent) and
    Queens (828,000 or 25 percent). The remaining fifth was located in the Bronx
    (510,000 or 15 percent) and Staten Island (175,000 or 5 percent)
  • There were 987,000 rent-stabilized units (occupied and vacant available), comprising
    45 percent of the rental stock in 2011
  • Rent-controlled units numbered 38,000, or 2 percent of the rental stock in 2011

Great stats, right? Haven’t compared this yet with the prior 2008 data, but is it any wonder that we love this stuff?

Tags:

 

Mon 26 Mar 2012

An Ugly Building Born During the Housing Boom

Posted by jdunne under The CREative Department, construction
1 Comment

Photo by James Dunne – The CREative Department

This is a picture of a newly constructed building on 9th Ave in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan:

9th Ave Building

I couldn’t resist posting this.

Tags:

 

Thu 22 Mar 2012

2012-2013 USPAP: Part 5

Posted by Marc Kushner under The Informed Appraiser, USPAP
No Comments

After a bit of an interruption, the saga continues.

In previous editions of USPAP, the Ethics Rule included a requirement that the appraiser maintain adequate records (workfiles).  Some folks had voiced concern about this state of affairs, under which an appraiser could be found in violation of the Ethics Rule for failing to maintain an adequate workfile, even by mistake. While such a failure is certainly irresponsible – perhaps even negligent – it seems unfair to automatically categorize this as “unethical”. Appraisers are only human, and mistakes can happen.

In response, for the 2012-2013 USPAP the Appraisal Standards Board made the bold move of taking this requirement out of the Ethics Rule and instead fashioning it into a brand-spanking-new Record Keeping Rule. (If you ask me, it should really be the Recordkeeping Rule; alas, they did not ask me.) Now, failure to maintain an adequate workfile is only a violation of the Record Keeping Rule rather than a more serious Ethics Rule violation.

There is, however, a major caveat: In conjunction with this change, the ASB also added a new provision to the Ethics Rule. This provision states that anyone who willfully or knowingly violates the Record Keeping Rule is also in violation of the Ethics Rule.

In order words, the ASB is saying that the intentional failure to maintain adequate records does indeed rise to the level of being unethical. I, for one, think this is a reasonable assertion.

However, the ASB has left me scratching my head on this one, and here’s why:

Could not this very same distinction – between intentional and unintentional infractions – be applied to several other requirements within the Ethics Rule? For example, one of the Ethics requirements is that the appraiser “Must not misrepresent his or her role when providing valuation services that are outside of appraisal practice.” I would consider this unethical only if the misrepresentation was intentional. So perhaps the ASB should create a separate Misrepresentation Rule, and leave a provision in the Ethics Rule to cover intentional misrepresentation.

The same could be said of another Ethics Rule requirement, which states that the appraiser “Must not engage in criminal conduct.” (Yes, this is akin to a law making it illegal to break the law.) Shouldn’t this be an Ethics Rule violation only if the appraiser engages in criminal conduct intentionally?

Editor’s Note:  I promise that this will be the last post on USPAP for a while!

Tags:

 

Mon 19 Mar 2012

How do You Fit a Smart Car in Parking Garage with no Spots Left?

Posted by jdunne under Parking, The CREative Department
No Comments

Use a forklift of course.

It’s common practice that NYC parking garages in high-trafficked areas of Manhattan routinely fill their garages up to double their stated maximum capacity during the day.  In fact, this is usually the only way the operators can turn a profit.  Typically, the garage operator rents the garage from a building owner, and usually the rates charged for the monthly fees for the “official” spots will only allow the operators to cover their rent.  Profit comes from every extra car they can squeeze into the garage during the day.

I was inspecting a building recently, and asked how this Smart Car got into this spot (there’s literally an inch on each side).  Without batting an eye, the operator told me “with a fork-lift of course.”

Tags:

 

« Previous Page — Next Page »

  • Categories

  • Tags