OLDER (RICH) NEW YORK LUXURY REAL ESTATE BUYERS

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 21st, 2013 Increasingly I am finding older buyers entering the Manhattan luxury market. They are not necessarily ‘old’ but they are a lot older than the developers, buildings, apartments and brokers catering to buyers. Every time a developer asks me about what demographics to expect for a building their… [Read More]

THE INVESTOR VISA PROGRAM DRAWS FOREIGN BUYERS TO NEW YORK

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 19th, 2013 KNIGHT FRANK recently ranked the most tax-friendly cities in the world to evaluate their quality of life (and cost)….New York did not make the list! We are reminded of our super-high real estate taxes every time a foreign buyer asks about monthly carrying costs when buying in… [Read More]

DEAR "MAYOR" DE BLASIO: PLEASE GET THIS HOUSING THING RIGHT!

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 19th, 2013 Its almost a certainty that New York’s next mayor will be Bill de Blasio who has been very vocal about the need for more affordable housing. He is correct, and just like Mayor Bloomberg has added more than 156,000 units in his 12 years, very close to… [Read More]

UMA THURMAN BUYS AT RIVERHOUSE

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 16th, 2013 Uma Thurman is buying an apartment at iconic Riverhouse. The gossip rags are aflutter over this purchase, but from a real estate perspective this is a VERY important sale that every co-op in Manhattan should look at closely. Several months ago I reported how this co-op’s board… [Read More]

THE $500 MILLION (HALF BILLION!) HOUSE

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 14th 2013 Is this the most expensive residential property ever? At $500 million it makes La Leopoldo, One 57 or Tour Odeon seem like a good buy.  Then again, the price equates to roughly $ 7,462/sf which is not that bad on the BILLIONAIRE-HOME -INDEX. The mansion at Carlton… [Read More]

GOVERNMENT CRISIS: SIMPLE MATH?

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 14th 2013 Last week my building’s board met to discuss the need to balance our budget: we realized that Manhattan inflation had caused our operating costs to rise, hence the necessary solution: we had to raise revenues so the common charges were raised by 10% to balance the books…. [Read More]

De Blasio slams Joe Lhota tax plan as a $2B giveaway to the rich

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 14th, 2013 The ‘MAYOR OF FAIRNESS” Bill de Blasio continues to frame his opponent Joe Lhota as the candidate who wants to give free-bees to the rich: Mr. De Blasio should simultaneously address why he and many others pay a QUARTER of the real estate taxes many New Yorkers… [Read More]

NEW ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS AFTER SANDY

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 12th, 2013 As we approach the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy,  the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, as well as the second-costliest hurricane in United States history that killed 73 people and cost New York around $42 billion. ($65 billion in total US damages),… [Read More]