Brooklyn? Upper Manhattan?

ok--the broker told you that nothing new is coming on the market?

Have you considered Hamilton Heights in upper Manhattan?

lets not go uptown so quickly. i would guarantee ( and I don't say that lightly) that there will be new units coming on the market everywhere.

I think uptown is great, and definitely don't take this snobbish "prime Manhattan" point of view that limits where you can look or makes you think about Hamilton Heights, or Inwood as compromises or outer areas like you are compromising. Columbiacounty you should think about going uptown and checking out the areas, and sarah55 definitely don't be afraid to expand what you think about NYC. Frankly if people didn't just salivate all the time for Manhattan below 96th then maybe Manhattan would be more equilibrium priced.

Sarah, get a new broker ... or better yet, get to know the advanced search features here on Streeteasy. I seriously doubt new stuff isn't coming on the market (besides sellers waiting out the traditionally slow summer season) ... either he has a crystal ball or he's totally full of shit and wants to squeeze the money out of you right away before he winds up in debtors' prison.

I love Harlem. I am buying there.

Like Alan said...be wary of a broker telling you "buy now!" This man (woman?) may be your broker, but he only gets paid when you buy so he has an incentive to get you to do so as soon as possible. If telling you that the market is going to "wane" (whatever that means) will get you to buy now, there are some brokers who will do it. Think of it as being roughly the same as Billy Mays saying "if you call in the next ten minutes, we'll double your order!" Take it with a big grain of salt.

Sales are seasonal -- we're in a slow patch, but inventory will rise again. Either your broker doesn't know that (in which case he's inexperienced) or he does and just wants to push you into buying now. If he's pushing you to do something that's good for him but not right for you...get a different broker.

On the other hand, you say you've been unsuccessful with a number of places. Do you mean that you're making reasonable bids, but they aren't being accepted? Or are you lowballing? If the latter, could he be trying to encourage you to raise your offers a bit, maybe? Regardless, I wouldn't take a place just because he says that it's the last apartment that will ever go on sale in New York City...I promise you, it's not.

Out of town for the past week. Can't go up to Hamilton Heights as the commute to LI(job) would be too much. I believe my bids in Harlem were reasonable (10-15% below asking in new development at 2008/2007 prices). I am in a difficult place b/c I need a bit of space 2b/2b (at least 1200) but can't go over 4800 a month total housing costs b/c I need to pay for school (religious--can't afford private in NYC). Everything in Brooklyn is going to contract in a heartbeat! I am hoping the fall will bring new inventory. Just saw a new listing in the Normandie--any word on this building?

I saw an apt in the Normandie. I like the location, 119th & Lenox is close to the subway and Mt Morris park, and you are across the street from Settepani, in 120th, the best cappuccino in Harlem. The building has a shared roof and tiny playroom and tiny gym, and storage for bikes. It looked nice to me. Some apts have private roofdecks. I think it has a doorman but not 24 hrs. The apt I saw had 4 very small rooms, and the reno was ok, a bit generic but nice enough, a minimalistic and prewar feel to it.

sarah - we looked at 2 apts at the Normandie -- 4 br each -- small chopped up rooms and somewhat smelly
gave up -- at the time they were asking 1.2 million or so or each. They had a very hard time selling the apts as far as I could tell -- the same units were on forever with repeated price cuts. Recently one of them sold for $725000, so the prices there may be down -- however 1 just got listed for $989k

I have also had trouble getting these people to accept lower offers
keep trying as they say

" I like the location, 119th & Lenox "

Seriously??

That's Scary Manhattan.

Certainly you can do better.

That's not scary. Where are you from, Idaho?

Matt boy is not cool. If he was around 15 years ago, I bet he would have thought think the east village was scary....

Sarah, just curious why you think washington heights/hamilton heights would add that much more time to your commute? If you're considering going as far up as 119th, going to say, 157, is not adding much time and you're greatly increasing the odds of finding a large place for the numbers you're talking. we faced a similar decision when our second child was born. we rented on 157th for a year then bought a large pre-war on the same block. our housing cost allows us to send our school aged child to private school and have a nanny for our younger son. the area is not perfect but we can live a life in NYC that we could never come close to affording downtown or prime brooklyn.

mimi--very true. i often think people who think anything above 96th st is scary/unsafe should drop the pretense and just come out and say they're terrified of blacks and hispanics. to say the area lacks restaurants and trendy coffee shops is valid but to say it's unsafe is silly.

For the record, I've lived in Washington Heights. MUCH more preferable to East Harlem, and actually much more convenient to civilization (anything west of Fifth Avenue).

The Normandie is not IN East Harlem, it is in Central Harlem. I doubt you spent much time in the neighborhoods between the "much more preferable Washington Heights" and 96th Street.

I actually have, since I have friends who live there.

I feel sorry for them.