THE DAKOTA 1 West 72nd Street  at Central Park West  In 1884, the New York Daily Graphic called it: "one of the most perfect apartment houses in the world" Today more than 100 years later, the Dakota still has fabulous apartments and magnificent views. Some of The Dakota's most famous former and current residents are Lauren Bacall, Judy Holiday, Rosemary Clooney, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Gilda Radner and Barlis Karloff. The Dakota is filled with stories about it's famous residents. The most famous is John Lennon's murder outside the Dakota in December 1980. A section of Central Park opposite the Dakota has been named strawberry fields. At the time of the murder, many Americans were already familiar with the Dakota because of the famous film, Rosemary's Baby which had been shot there 1... 08/21/2006

I've been reading many posts about Open Houses, I can see why they might not be effective in many markets.In Manhattan we do not have lock boxes or keys available to show a property. In Manhattan the listing agent is almost always present during a showing. An appointment has to be made with the Listing agent at least 24 hours in advance to show a property. Scheduling appointments for buyers is one of the most difficult tasks we have as buyers agents in Manhattan. When working with buyers we are at the mercy of the listing agents time. Setting up itineraries for a buyer is very difficult. Many agents do not always return phone calls or answer emails. But they all do Open Houses. Sometimes an Open House is the only opportunity I have to show that property to my buyer. Sometimes I have to ... 08/20/2006

In Sunday April 20, 2006 New York Times Real Estate section the feature story By Vivian S. Toy is titled                     Lets Make A Deal.  http://www.nytimes.com/pages/realestate/index.htmlIt has a picture of an apartment with a divider down the middle called asking price and a buyer and seller are playing tug -of-war across the asking price. My broker JoAnne Kennedy, cheif operating officer of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy http://www.cbhk.com/ Is quoted:"We're certainly not where we were in the irrational, exuberance days, sellers have become more realistic. and buyers are finding they have more time to select, and they can make an offer that's not asking price, and it will be considered."JoAnne  goes on to say that sellers are often happy to get any bid, but a buyer who submits a ... 08/19/2006

The current issue of New York Magazine has an all blue cover with a photo of the top of the twin towers at the bottom. In the middle of the page in white type it reads: WHAT IF 9/11 NEVER HAPPENED? On the top of the page in light blue it reads: FIVE YEARS LATER. In the right bottom corner it reads: An Alternative History. http://www.nymag.com/Either I'm losing my sight or something Freudian happened. When I first saw the magazine I thought it said:WHAT IF 9/11 HAPPENED AGAIN? I ignored it and looked at other mail. I was not interested in seeing Manhattan underwater, or buildings collapsing or firemen in space suits or any other horrible scenario about how vulnerable we are.  This morning while having my coffee I glanced at it again and finally comprehended that it said: WHAT IF 9/11 NEV... 08/18/2006

Before you come to love Manhattan, you must understand our peculiar housing market. Manhattan is a unique place in the real estate universe. Not only does it have a large rental market (75% of the available housing units vs. about 5 - 10% in other markets), but it has ownership and other important differences that are often puzzling to newcomers. Showings normally 9 - 5 p.m. (7p.m. the latest)Most co-ops have restrictions on showing times that vary widely, but must be adhered to. Some buildings do not even allow weekend showings.Sunday Open Houses are the way to goCondos and some co-ops will allow public open houses on Sunday afternoons. That means that Sundays can be a good day to see a lot of properties, If you're not with your agent and you are working with an agent let the listing a... 08/16/2006

I attended a presentation from brokers marketing a new condo with anticipated closings starting March 2007. They are requiring 10% deposit with signing and another 10% in 90 days. No financing contingencies.When asked why they responded "the developer felt less buyers would walk with 20% invested." The lowest priced unit is $735,000. most are in the millions. I'm thinking who's going to walk from $73,000.  Then I realized that some buyers might have to. If interest rates go up they might not be qualified for the same amount 8 months from now. A mortgage broker from Wells Fargo that was present informed us that Wells Fargo has a product for new construction for 1/4 point they lock the rate for 1 year. If the rates go down you get the lower rate. 08/15/2006

If it's priced right the buyers will bid on it. I recently had a properrty on the market for 6 months.  After 2 price reductions totalling almost $100,000 of the original listing price I received multiple bids. I heard several similar stories from other agents in my office today. One had the property on the market for a year lowered the price several times and finally got multiple bids. Another agent with a property on the market for a long time lowered the price lowered again and had it staged and then received multiple bids. It seems that once the right price level is reached all of a sudden it's bid on. If it's priced low enough it is perceived as a great deal and more than one buyer want it.This pricing strategy worked the last few years when the market was very hot. I think it work... 08/15/2006

There have been lots of blogs and press about ACRIS Automated City Record Information System displaying coop sales records online. Everything from secret plan for the city and state to impose mortgage taxes from appraiser [MillerSamuel] to Jerry Seinfelds signature on a UCC- form. [Gawker] I've been using  ACRIS  for a couple of years for condos and townhouses. I've been using it primarily for real estate tax records. Every time I get a listing in a condo I check the real estate tax. Many sellers of condos don't know how much their real estate tax is because it's paid by their lender from their mortgage payment. I have also shown properties to buyer customers that the listing agent had wrong RET in the system and on their show sheets. I always check everything myself. There have been ti... 08/11/2006