Posted by Leonard Steinberg of COMPASS on May 8th, 2015 PLEASE: someone PLEASE tell me where you can buy a MANSION for $1,75million….or $ 3million….or even $5 million in Manhattan? Our brilliant local government has officially re-defined the meaning of the word MANSION: Yes, a mansion in New York City can be bought for $1.75… [Read More]
PIEDE-A-TERRE TAX STUPIDITY
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 25th, 2014 I live in a building where several people own apartments that they only use a few months of the year. I am in no way offended by this. My neighbors paid lots of transfer and mansion taxes buying, pay monthly real estate taxes, employ decorators, trades people,… [Read More]
DOES GOVERNMENT STIMULUS FUEL HOUSING VALUES?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 17th, 2014 Does Government stimulus fuel housing values? Apparently in the UK with its ‘HELP TO BUY” program the answer is YES: London housing prices surged 2.1% from February to a record this month, as the buoyant outlook spread to other parts of the country: annualized this equates to… [Read More]
$14.1 BILLION WALL STREET TAXES COLLECTED FOR NEW YORK CITY AND STATE TAX COFFERS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 13th, 2014 Wall Street’s profits in 2013 were the seventh-largest ever: the combined profits of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other banks and brokers fell by 30% and revenues across the industry were flat, yet New York City collected $3.8 billion in Wall Street-related taxes last year, the second most ever!… [Read More]
DE BLASIO LUXURY CONDOMINIUM TAX REVENUE WINDFALL
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 13th, 2013 Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio may be thanking the creators and buyers of luxury condominiums soon: Over the next 24 months, the City and State of New York stands to collect close to a half a billion dollars in taxes from the construction and delivery of roughly… [Read More]
MAYOR-ELECT DE BLASIO AND TAXES: THE REALITY?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 6th, 2013 Its official: Bill de Blasio is the mayor-elect of New York City. Getting elected was relatively easy, but now its down to work. He is smart enough to know that botching Bloomberg’s successes will almost certainly lead to a fiscal mess and prevent the very things that… [Read More]
WHEN GOVERNMENTS STRANGLE MARKETS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 8th, 2013 I had an interesting meeting earlier to-day with a group of international real estate leaders to gauge the current state of affairs in global ‘real estate land’: one message emerged that is truly of great concern, especially now as we enter the last phase of the New… [Read More]
HAPPY, HEALTHY 2013 WITH SOME REAL ESTATE LESSONS FROM CAPE TOWN
Posted by Leonard Steinberg in January 1st, 2013 I am blogging from sunny Cape Town, South Africa……my place of birth and still possibly the most beautiful place anywhere…….and while far removed from the concrete jungle of Manhattan, I have learned many lessons, or have been reminded of some from the past……so here goes: 1) Beauty… [Read More]
WARREN BUFFET SAYS WHAT ALL OTHERS IGNORE: $ 250k/ YEAR IS NOT RICH!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 27th, 2012 Warren Buffet has said what we have been YELLING in a recent New York Times editorial: Income of $ 250,000/year is NOT rich. Not in New York, or Los Angeles, or Miami, or San Francisco, or a host of other larger US cities. His piece addresses brilliantly… [Read More]
NEW YORK CITY: THE NEXT GLOBAL TECH POWERHOUSE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 28th, 2012 New York is especially well positioned in the NEW TECH ECONOMY: The recent expansion of New York’s Internet industry has forced some entrepreneurs — who recently automatically flocked to California’s Silicon Valley – to focus on New York. New York is now enough of an attractive alternative that a… [Read More]