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nyc BLOG Estate - Mitchell Hall In the News 10/26/2011 | Source:   Townhouse Edition Fall 2011 Mixed-use Townhouses with Commercial Space Author: Sonia Samuel and Emilia Ferrara Any wise New Yorker knows that two heads is better than one. Any smart real estate investor knows that two renters are better than one. Mixed-use townhouses across New York are becoming hot commodities for many buyers. “The townhouses split for commercial and residential use are rare,” says Louise Beit of Sotheby’s International Realty, “especially on side streets of prime avenues in top, sophisticated residential or re-tail areas.” According to David Kornmeier, the Vice President and Director at Brown Harris Stevens, “Traditionally, a renovated single family house tends to garner a lot of interest.”Mixed-use townhouses aren’t typically what a family has in mind when interested in buying a new home. “The West Village and Greenwich Village often consistently obtain the highest average price per foot for various types of homes, says Kornmeier though, suggesting that this has not always been the case. “What unites all buyers is that they are looking for a good deal and decent value. The key is understanding the dynamics of a particular market or submarket in order to appropriately define value and position a home to become the most sought after. That being said, it is easier to obtain$3,000 plus per square foot in the Village for a finished single family townhouse than almost any other neighborhood in the City.” Still, buyers of all townhouses tend to have similarities. “Most townhouse owners value their privacy and enjoy having control over the entire building,” says Kornmeier. “Many [buyers] also appreciate having multiple outdoor gardens and terraces along with a large amount of space, and often for a lower price per square foot than in a similarly sized apartment.” This brings the location of mixed-use townhouses into question. “There are many areas that have wonderful townhouse blocks and the houses are highly sought-after in those locations,” says Kornmeier. “Typically the Village, Upper East Side, Upper West Side and Gramercy Park areas tend to obtain the highest prices.” “Top selling single family houses usually have elevators and full floor master bedroom suites,” says Kornmeier, making the amenities more interesting. “Another key factor is an appropriately large and generous kitchen positioned correctly within the house.” The economy does not really seem to have a hold on the mixed-use townhouse apartment. “Although the economy is causing some unease,” continues Kornmeier. “Uniquely positioned townhouses still sell very well and in some cases, new sales price records have been set. Notable recent examples of this are the sales of multiple single family homes on the Upper West Side that sold recently for right around$19M when the previous record sales price for an UWS single family house was $15,750,000.” But if you manage to stumble upon one of these diamonds in the rough the benefits can be quite re-warding. “An owner can do whatever they want, they can own the whole townhouse and rent out part of it for professional use,” says Mitchell Hall from Corcoran. They can take two or three floors as their own, they can take one apartment and rent out the others, there’s a lot of possibility in it. I had a buyer purchase a brown-stone in Brooklyn and it was mixed-use. The ground floor was set up for professional use, he was buying be-cause he wanted to live in it, but the rent [from the ground floor] helped cover his mortgage and expenses,” says Hall. “These mixed-use townhouses are hot because the commercial space rents for higher price than a residential space and the property is a good investment since it is rare,” says Ms. Beit. Jimmy Choo was privy to this real estate secret, his shoe boutique located on east 51st street between Madison and Fifth avenues is part of a classic mixed-use New York town house. “Some clients are looking for income producing property,” says Olga Neulist of Sotheby’s International Realty, “and therefore rent out part of the house to a commercial tenant or residential tenant who could cover all the house’s expenses.” However, mixed-use townhouses aren’t for retail alone, Mr. Hall told The Observer, “A doctor’s office in a brownstone that would be one of the best uses of it. It’s usually a ground floor apartment, ideally there’s a separate entrance. My dentist is in brownstone—I normally see professional use like doctors, dentists or psychiatrists, usually they have a floor and a separate entrance.” Hall continues with a chuckle, ‘You don’t really want to have to go through the building up-stairs to an office.” Mixed-houses, even if unprofitable, are still great self-sustaining properties, especially when held onto over time. “Beyond paying the mortgage, a lot of times there is not a huge profit, but there is growth over the years. Rents are going to continue to go up, so the value of the whole property is going to continue to go up,” Hall continues. The Corcoran realtor suggests the absence of townhouses in the Upper East Side is a common misconception. “The Upper East Side, you don’t see them on main Avenues like Park or Madison because those are big buildings, but when you go on the side streets like Lexington, you’ll see brownstones, usually they’ll be ground floors below, you’ll have to go down the steps, a lot of those are businesses, doctors, dentists, law firms, even a little real estate firm.” Ground floor real estate firms are an easy investment for a mogul looking to diversify their portfolio. “A property can be purchased by an owner or user, which makes it an excellent investment,” says Ms. Beit. “A 4,000-square-foot, three level commercial space of Madison Avenue in a prime Upper East Side location, in need of renovation, can rent for as much as $400,000 per year,” she says. Still “in my experience,” Kornmeier says, “most people that purchase townhouses as a residence typically favor more residential locations, such as the charming tree-lined streets and uniform rows of townhouses.” There are many factors that will stay at play. “Houses that are mixed-use are not usually on these types of blocks and tend to sell as an investment, or to a buyer that intends to occupy the commercial space. I have had a few clients who were quite interested in retail cash flow and did not mind living above commercial space in a busier location,” Kornmeier continue. “But, in these cases, they expected to pay a reduced price per square foot.” The Observer's Townhouse Fall 2011 Edition

The New York Times: Residential Sales Around The Region

Publication: The New York Times

Date: 6/26/2011

Title: Residential Sales Around the Region

Click Image To Enlarge Manhattan Upper West Side… $720,000  155 West 68th St., Dorchester Towers 700-sq.-ft. condo in a postwar building; 24-hr. doormen, volcanic stone counters, renovated bath, parquet floors; common charge $458; taxes $5,976; listed at $749,000. Broker: Mitchell Hall, The Corcoran Group Copyright © 2011 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission.  Photos should be credited as follows: The New York Times.

Time Out New York / Issue 656 : Apr 23-29, 2008 Apartments '08 How to be the perfect candidate TIPS FOR CO-OP BUYERS  - by: Scot Meyer Five tips for wanna-be co-op buyers Although a co-op board member may say that the process of meeting applicants is just a formality, the building bigwigs can reject you without explanation. So it pays to take the meeting seriously. 1. Answer questions. "You may be asked things that seem personal and sometimes even invasive," says Circle Mortgage Group president Dale Siegel. "Don't be fazed, just answer politely." 2. But maybe not all questions. Mitchell Hall, associate broker with Coldwell Banker Previews International, notes that co-ops can't discriminate based on things such as race or national origin. The board is also not supposed to ask about sexual orientation, marital status or if children will be living with you. 3. Don't elaborate. Hall says major renovation plans might turn off board members. 4. Don't ask. Even innocent questions can offend. "You might ask when they're going to renovate the lobby," Hall says, "and it turns out they just did, and someone on the board was head of the lobby-renovation committee." 5. Don't tell. Beware of revealing too much-questions about sublet or pet policies are a bad idea, and if there are patios, don't ask if you can barbecue on them.   Is Manhattan Immune from the Real Estate Bust? April 24, 2008, by Prashant Gopal For the time being, yes. But if Wall Street continues to struggle, that could change Slide Show: Manhattan's Most Expensive Real Estate Is Manhattan Immune from the Real Estate Bust? (page 2 of 2) Many of the strictest buildings often insist that prospective buyers have liquid assets equaling as much as three times the apartment's asking price. So, if you're talking about a $5 million apartment, you need at least $15 million in the bank. Other real estate holdings don't count. Subprime loans and foreclosures, as a result, are rare.  "Here you have to put skin in the game," said Mitchell Hall, associate broker with Coldwell Bankers Previews International. "It's not easy to buy a place in New York-you have to be really qualified." Translation: rich.  Nail-Biting Time The fact that Manhattan has-at least so far-escaped the downturn doesn't mean it won't get hit. With a recession looming, plenty of job losses are expected this year on Wall Street, where bonuses are also expected to shrink.  The new condos being built-with ever increasing prices-could also create an oversupply of luxury real estate.  Even Spinola of the Real Estate Board concedes that the market could flatten in a recession. New York real estate is by no means immune to dips. Prices dropped during the recession in the early 1990s and following the 1987 stock market crash. The biggest postwar decline came in the 1970s, when the city went bankrupt.  Jonathan Miller, president of New York appraiser Miller Samuel, said even though prices are rising, sales activity is off from last year's record levels.  The boroughs are doing worse. Expensive Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, and Park Slope have mirrored Manhattan's strength. But middle-class communities farther out have been weakened by the subprime crisis and the credit crunch. Median home prices in Queens fell 12% in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the Real Estate Board. The median price dropped 9% in the Bronx, 2% in Staten Island, and 1% in Brooklyn.  "Look we've had a very brisk real estate market for the last four or five years," Miller said. "The New York region has held up better than virtually any market across the country. But we are not immune to situations on the national scale."  See the BusinessWeek.com slide show for the most expensive real estate listings in Manhattan.   Gopal writes about real estate for BusinessWeek.com in New York .
Relocation.com’s Best New York City Real Estate Blogs  May 10th, 2010 By Serena Norr On the beat of the real estate industry are some extraordinary NYC bloggers that are on top of the latest industry news and trends and whose sites feature in-depth articles ranging from tenant’s rights to real estate taxes. Here are some of Relocation.com’s favorites: Covering all of Manhattan, NYC Blog Estate features current real estate listings, recent developments and informative articles about the industry. Users can also navigate their way through the site based on the neighborhood they are interested in. The site also has a buyer and seller section where interested parties can search their home or apartment direct.   Real estate professionals say buyers are in the driver's seat By Inman News, Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Inman News Residential sales in Manhattan continued to slide in the second quarter, according to market reports released today, falling back from last year's lofty peaks. Mitchell Hall, an associate broker for Coldwell Banker Previews International in Manhattan, said, "I think the market has really turned to more of a buyer's market," and buyers seem to have more wiggle room these days in negotiating prices and other concessions with sellers. "Everything's very negotiable right now," Hall said. "Where a year ago a buyer would ... insult a seller making a lowball offer, now everything is being considered." He cited the slow-moving economy among the factors contributing to slowing sales. "They are not grabbing things right away as they were previously. They are ... taking a wait-and-see attitude." Those buyers who purchased in the past year will likely lose money if they try to sell in the current market, he said. While there are still first-time buyers in the market, Hall said that larger down-payment requirements are difficult for some buyers. "It's a little tougher getting mortgages right now."  The co-op market, he said, typically requires a 20 percent down payment and in some cases a 25 percent down payment, and for condos most lenders are requiring at least a 15 percent down payment, he said. There are plenty of homes for buyers to choose from, he said, citing a couple who found 80 properties that matched their criteria. Trulia Century Award Winners announced Tue, Aug 21, 2007 This week we are excited to announce the Trulia Century Award winners - that is an award to everyone who has answered more than 100 questions in the first 100 days since the launch of Trulia Voices. There are 20 25 of these exceptional Voices, who have not only been active contributors on the site, but also provided us with product feedback, insight and opinions along the way.This week we sent them a little token of our appreciation and wanted to make sure they received a Trulia Blog shout out for the achievement and for their work putting Trulia Voices on the path to success. So, to Deborah, Pam, Bruce, Jeannette, Melissa, Bridgette, Carrie, Keith, Cindi, Roberta, Mitchell, Jim, Paul, Kristal, Mario, Brian, Ellen, Ted, Herman, Kaye, Chris, Irina, Maureen, Ruth, and Sylvia and all of the Trulia Voices community…thanks for helping us get through the first 100 and we look forward to many hundreds more! FOLIO: Publishers Pony Up for Plush Manhattan Show Houses By Vanessa Voltolina Hearst, Hachette lock in top-notch real estate for annual programs. The price tag for the penthouse? According to nyc BLOG estate site, Soho Mews' rentals range from $7,000 to $20,000 per month. Two years ago, Esquire’s Ultimate Bachelor Pad—Esquire North, located in Harlem cost $8.5 million.  Every Joe: How Blogging Can Make You Stand Out From the Crowed. "I did find some blogs from realtors who were selling NYC real estate.  They seem to be doing a pretty good job of differentiating themselves from their peers and getting to know their customers. Mitchell Hall does a good job of writing about real estate news and neighborhoods on his blog NYC Blog Estate" 6/22/2007     New York Sun      Stalled Coop Bill Gains Backers