Archive for October, 2009

What to Look For in a New NYC Agent

I regret to announce that next week Kara Barney, one of the Hoch Groups prized agents, will be leaving us and moving to Arizona. Suddenly I am looking for a new agent. This process has started me thinking about what’s important to look for when hiring someone to market a home. I will be looking [...]

345 E. 56th Apt 9H

When was the last time you saw an apartment in a luxury building in a great area for a fantastic price? This junior four has a large living room with a fantastic amount of light. The master bedroom has excellent closets with a recently renovated bathroom. The kitchen has custom built in cabinets as well [...]

Financing A Co-Op or Condo in NYC

 There has been a lot of talk in recent months about the evolution of the mortgage markets and the new obstacles buyers and sellers must confront.  On the street everything from mortgage contingencies to appraisals have become more complicated. Since we can’t control the banks today we are going to take a look at what [...]

Manhattan Market Reports

3RD Quarter Market Reports
 
The third quarter market reports were released this week. 
 
In the Manhattan Market the median sales price of an apartment fell 8% from the prior years quarter
 
The overall median sales price fell %8.4 from the prior years median sales price.
 
With this drop in price came an uptake in transactions.  We saw the market [...]

Gifting Apartments in NYC

           The largest single group purchasing apartments in today’s market is the first time home buyer. Often many of these clients are gifted money from family members raising the question  “If I gift down payment money to my child; what are the tax ramifications for me?” The Hoch Group set out this week to answer [...]

Altruistic Brokers

It is so easy while working in real estate in New York City to lose perspective on the world as a whole. On Wednesday my perspective was put into sharp focus when I was lucky enough to attend an inspiring fundraiser at Pier 40 for Mapendo International .  Mapendo is a non-profit organization that works [...]