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A UNIT UNDER $300,000 ON UES?
YES. AND PLENTY CITY-WIDE.

If you have $85,000 in the bank earning almost nothing in interest, why not buy a Manhattan studio during this historic buyer’s market? Could financing rates get much lower? Here’s the math!

Usually a 20% down-payment is required, so $60,000 or less. Carry costs (maintenance and mortgage) average from $1,600 to $2,900/mo., lower than most rents and with tax deductions. True, you must have a job or a business that produces income. Parents, you can gift the down-payment, act as guarantors, or co-purchase.

The time is right to build your Manhattan real estate portfolio, starting with your own home. Should investors be the only ones to profit? Buy a studio. Furnish with Mid-Century Modern décor and enhance both your lifestyle and your future.

It’s 2021! Time to get moving, literally and figuratively. Message me to guide you as your buyer’s broker, and I will negotiate a great deal!

GOOD NEWS FOR US (UES)!

According to UES Patch looking at the latest testing data, rates remain relatively low on the Upper East Side compared with city wide numbers. Our five zip codes ranked in the bottom by percent of tests that came back positive. Citywide 7-day positivity rate stood at 5.51%, but here’s how our neighborhoods made out in the testing period from Dec. 6-12.

• 10021 — Lenox Hill: 2,333 tests, 55 positive cases, 2.36%
• 10028 — Yorkville: 2,271 tests, 52 positive cases, 2.29%
• 10065 — Lenox Hill: 1,910 tests, 42 positive cases, 2.2%
• 10075 — Lenox Hill: 1,331 tests, 33 positive cases, 2.48%
• 10128 — Yorkville: 2,908 tests, 57 positive cases, 1.96%

As of Tuesday, the city's highest COVID-19 rates were in the Gravesend/Homecrest sections of Brooklyn, Ozone Park in Queens, and Midwood in Brooklyn. The highest in Manhattan was the 10002 ZIP code in Chinatown, where 6.34% came back positive. Keep wearing your masks UES. Our safety measures are making a difference.

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION ON WHAT’S TO COME IN NYC?

The New York Times has posed some serious questions about our NYC office environment in a recent article. Here’s my take…

Q: If working at home is now completely ingrained into our business life, will Manhattan office building owners consider converting empty floors into residential units? Would you live there?

Q: Commercial real estate pays 41% of NYS’s property taxes. Do you think those lost revenues will be recovered by a deluge of small taxes like the pied a terre tax?

Q: Will iconic Madison and Fifth Avenue shopping return to its former glory when almost a third are empty now? What will replace them?

Q: Filings to erect new buildings have dropped to 1,187. Will anyone notice the difference in noise and inconvenience?

Q: Who will win in court? Powerful landlords who say COVID is a tenant’s excuse to withhold rent? Powerful tenants who ask if their landlord has noticed that they have been closed for months?

What are your thoughts?

PEOPLE ARE LEAVING THE CITY IN DROVES?
NOT THE WAY I SEE IT.

News in The New York Post the other day had people talking and worrying. The newspaper reported that the post office had received 295,103 change of address requests from March 1 through Oct. 31. “Is NYC a sinking ship? Should we join the crowds and get out while we can?”

I agree that people fled NYC when it was the epicenter of COVID. I went to my Boca house and did change my address. But I returned and changed it back. What else would you do with your mail if you were staying in your second home in the Hamptons, Berkshires, Westchester, at a beach or at a lake—many of the zip codes reported.

Yes. Some people relocated clear across the country, even overseas. Many of them were renters. Some may have loved The Big Apple, but their commitment to NYC was always uncertain as they failed to invest in a permanent home.

The Post reports on all the people who say they are so happy now in Hawaii or California or Florida. They say that NYC is not what it was. Maybe not. But I have every confidence that it will come back soon and better. I’m staying to see it. # # #

HOW ABOUT A HOME OFFICE WITH A DOOR?

Just 10% of Manhattan’s office employees have returned to their workplaces, as a survey from Partnership For New York City reports, and 15% are expected to return in 2021.

But guess what sector is back in the office? Real estate agents—who else? The survey says 73% are already back, and mid-year predictions are 87%. No surprise that tech workers are expected to be the dominant work-from-home sector or that COVID surveyed as the most causative factor.

So attention tech people and others in easily adapted work-at-home fields! Isn’t it time to move to a larger apartment with a real office, file storage, workspace, bookcases and countertops, perhaps an en suite half bath? Isn’t it time for great wi-fi and phone reception, and a door to close when you need privacy? Contact me and let’s find a new apartment that has one.

VIRTUAL BOARD INTERVIEWS. HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW!

You don’t have to travel, worry about being on time, or not know what the wind has done to your hair. Your Board interview will be virtual. So here are new insider tips to master
Dress for success. Even if your Zoom interviewers are in sweat suits, you must dress in casual chic or more formal attire, just not too casual or too formal. Be fully dressed, but remember to focus on the portion of your body that will be visible on the screen.
Check out your room lighting. Make sure you are well lit but not as in a police interrogation in the movies.

Check out the wall behind you. Is it well appointed? Is it neat and orderly? Scrutinize it carefully. An errant sock on the couch, two crumpled throw pillows, or your pajama top on a chair are not good looks.

Stow kids and pets in a quiet remote place. No, “daddy, mommy” appeals should interrupt your flow. If your 80 lb. dog comes in for a pat or a nuzzle, that’s not a good look to your interviewers.

The Board wants to get to know you. It is not the time for you to get to know them or building policies or planned capital projects. Think of it as having tea and small talk, with smiling pleasantries only. How much you admire the building, the staff, the neighbors you have already met, the neighborhood--these are all good topics.

Just in case, make sure your home is really tidy. They may want to see how you keep your residence. While this seems intrusive, have a handy excuse for turning them down, such as you are using your desktop PC for the interview.

Remember that no one has ever been turned down by a Board for being too boring. No exciting anecdotes, jokes, clever witticisms, or politics should intrude on your pleasant visit. They don’t need to be entertained or instructed, just to feel secure that you will be a quiet, rule abiding new neighbor.

Good luck!