Manhattan Condo shopping list?

My price point is lower than yours, but we have a few similiar concerns such as wanting a smaller building, pet-friendly and no steps in the apartment. To answer a few of your questions, yes you want a doorman especially with a young son living in the apartment. If your son is going to Pratt in Brooklyn, you may want to live further south in Manhattan to shorten his commute (Tribeca or Battery Park City maybe). If you are looking for outdoor space, you do not want a prewar building unless others on this board can suggest suitable buildings.

If you have read this board, you are well aquainted with the very smart brokers who post here such as front_porch, KeithB and West81st. I would suggest contacting one of them for assistance, especially at your price point. Best of luck in your search.

I would recommend adding washer/dryer in unit to your list. Will you need parking? I have teens and would choose separate units if possible.

unless you are completely off the grid, doubt that, have no friends in ny, doubt that, if you want to buy at that price point you must already have some basic knowledge of nyc. that said, come, visit a few times and start tire kicking and get at least get basic understanding of the different neighborhoods. troll/drill down on this site at your price point and put a page of your own together of props you think you might be interested in incorporating some of the wish list. stay in midtown for convenience on one trip, stay downtown to counter on another. way too many "i don't knows help me" to even begin to net it down. follow lobster's advice re the brokers if you like and yes do ChrisTs add w/d to that longggggggggggg list. And forget about Section 2, #4. Value? cmon.

255 Hudson, soho mews, v33, 141 fifth all come to mind. Any favorite neighborhoods?

Hi SoCal, I'm one of the agents that lobster so graciously mentioned. I had a twenty-year career in publishing, switched over to real estate, and hang out on the streeteasy boards to meet clients while working (slowly!) on my second book.

I work for a boutique firm, and I've worked with a few relocating Californians -- some of them in the entertainment industry who need a bicoastal Hollywood/NY lifestyle -- and I would add "exposures" to your list.

If you're coming from a California house, you probably don't even think about the house-y feel that you get from the fact that your windows face different directions. But in a New York apartment, that's not automatic.

Sight unseen, I can tell you that you will like apartments with windows facing in three or four different directions (what we would call "three or four exposures") waaay better than apartments that have just one or two.

and yes, I would love to talk more to you either here or by email: ali [at] dgneary [dot] com. If you write me there please put "streeteasy" in the subject line so I can find it.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Thank you so much for the quick responses!

You see, I hadn't even thought about a washer-dryer, I guess I took that for granted ... live and learn!

lobster : yes, I will definitely contact a broker(s) when I ramp up my searching. Hopefully sooner rather than later - if my son doesn't get accepted to the school he wants we might change plans completely. I make a living on the Internet so working with brokers who 'work' the internet makes complete sense to me.

ChrisT : parking? see, I had not even thought of that either. I guess I assumed that no building came with parking. I never seem to see cars coming in or out of NYC condos but I guess it happens all the time, right? Yes, two spaces might make sense. I see terms like 'duplexing' on the message board that maybe refer to what I've been thinking about.

romary: forget about value?? OK, I understand completely what you're saying, but I don't want to be the guy who pays $X for his house when it goes to 60%-of-X three months later and you guys all goof on me ... :)

e76: favorite neighborhoods? None, they're all great. I've been coming to NYC for 30 years on business or on vacation and just spend hours lost in the entire experience.

front_porch: thanks, I will contact you when the time seems right. I don't want to waste your time yet. I'm a quick decision maker but it's only after exhaustive preparation first.

The one thing that jumps out at me. Why must you spend 3-4m?

SoCal, we were not in a dissimilar position two years ago though our decision was dictated by a son's medical condition. The smartest, wisest thing we ever did was to take a year's lease in the neighborhood we thought we wanted to be in which was where son and family lived. after an exhaustive year and with the help of many on this streeteasy discussion board, we wound up in a totally different area thirty blocks away. during that year we were in and out of town but had the opportunity to learn the complexities of condo/coop life. We hadn't realized how important a doorman was, how much we would actually enjoy a view, how much space two people really need, and what neighborhood conveniences were important to us. Additionally, we came to understand just how expensive a decision this is and with the high closing costs we were going to have to live with our decision for a long time. We leased an apartment in January and in December closed on a coop on the East side and started a major renovation, confident that we had done the right thing. time will tell but that year's lease was an incredible learning experience for both of us and i highly recommend it.

SoCal, no worries. Think of streeteasy as a cafe and I'm just one of the regulars sitting in the corner reading the newspaper (on my phone, of course).

While you are setting up your parameters I would ask you to think about one assumption: are you sure you're only considering a condo? If you cut out co-ops you're ruling out roughly 75% of the housing stock in Manhattan.

One advantage of buying a condo is the ability to finance a higher percentage of the purchase, an advantage you wouldn't need if you intend to pay cash.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Rosina is absolutely correct. Renting an apartment for awhile is the wisest thing you can do. When my husband and I became empty-nesters, we decided to rent for a year to see if we liked the city. We love the city and are now looking to buy.

During our rental, we discovered what was important to us. We're looking at units now that we would not have considered a year ago. A garage, for example, is a must-have for us.

It's too expensive to change apartments. Try to get what you want the first time.

Renting does seem like a good idea if you are not sure what 'hood you and son would want to be in. Or whether son will be living in NY at all. Many issues come up. For instance, after about a year or two of living here, you start to get the need to get out of town. So parking might really be an issue for you. But there are some garages that have Zip cars which are great for a day get away (get the BMW's though -some zip cars are like tin cans). You know once you get here and make friends and know the area you might find complete lifestyle changes that you never anticipated. For instance if you were renting for a while, you might decide to buy a 2 million apt and a 2 million cottage in the Hamptons because you love it so much, or a little farm upstate for weekends, or, or, or. Who knows. Plus, if you rent for a while you will get a real feel for the direction of the market, know a bargain when you see one , etc. You might save some significant money by easing into the situation.

Btw, can't do better that W81 for Upper West Side

We purchased a condo in that range Aug 2009. If you would like to email me at alotlikesisyphus@yahoo.com I'd be happy to share our experience with you.

i suspect our 52 year old retiree, with a place in la, looking to split his time btwn that and a place he buys here in nyc for 4mm cash, wont be particularly interested in driving around in a filthy zipcar

did you read the inquiry apt23--he's planning to be here for 3 2-month periods each year--he wants to buy an apt--what makes you think he wants a farmhouse from this??

Thanks once again for all the thoughts. Now I need to add 'zipcar' to my vocabulary. You're right, I can't imagine driving a zipcar, but I'm sure my son might.

I'm sure everyone has a different take on things, and there's probably a lot of regional stuff as well. Here in L.A. the first thing I wanted to do out of college was buy my first home, a real home with a yard and a fence and a dog. I was able to do this in 1983, even while interest rates were 12%+, and we eventually paid that off, bought a bigger place and paid that off as well several years ago.

I never took to renting, although I did it for several years, but I certainly appreciate the logic of the suggestion that I rent first. I am hoping my son gets into the NYC school and is able to help me / us decide where exactly in Manhattan is best for us. I've driven the L.A. freeway system all my life, where basically you can't get anywhere in much less than 1 hour, so every neighborhood in Manhattan looks convenient to everything else by comparison. (I wanted to see an Islanders hockey game last winter, though, and it turns out it's almost impossible to get there by public transportation.)

nyc10023: "why must I spend 3-4 mill?" I just using the Streeteasy Search Engine and was working my way back from what I felt I need in terms of an NYC home and tried to figure out the price I would have to pay for that. I would LOVE to pay less.

e76 : "255 Hudson, soho mews, v33, 141 fifth all come to mind." thanks for all this, I'm doing Google Maps and Google Street View and all that cool stuff.

sisyphus: by all means, thank you. I will certainly email you when we get a little more firm in our plans.

BTW, I went to Amazon.com and see there have not been any recent New York Condo books released, although there were several in the mid-2000's. I guess that stands to reason in a soft market, although it seems like NYC is a market unto itself!

SoCal: The best real estate books in the past couple of years were Carolyn Warren's "Homebuyers Beware" (2009) and Ilyce Glink's "Buy Close Move In" - (2010) -- but neither of them are particularly New York-focused, and the best info in both of them is about the changing mortgage market.

So I'd recommend the books of war stories. Stephen Gaines' "The Sky's the Limit" is from 2005, but it's still fun (you might especially like the profile of Linda Stein, the model for the broker in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" movies).

And my book, which is a 2007 memoir of my first year in real estate, is set half in New York.

http://tinyurl.com/2ag28z

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

One book I found very handy is the Manhattaon Condo Book which is published annually which list all the condos, amenities, price psf, etc. It has addresses, maps, location. Its published by Yale Robbins. You can order it www.yrpubs.com. It's around $20 and is a really informative book for condos.

"If you cut out co-ops you're ruling out roughly 75% of the housing stock in Manhattan."

THis is simply not true anymore, maybe ten years ago. If you look at sales listings on streeteasy and Miller/Sams quarterly closing reports, you'll find a near 50/50 split for all Manhattan.

Ali, you may be forgetting all the newly built inventory over the last ten years is likely to be 90% condos and 10% coops.
THough of course, specific neighborhoods may still maintain the old ratios as they have not had as many new constructions. (ie. upper east side is still probably coop heavy)

Lobster thanks for putting my name out there! For someone who may need a lot of attention and is not very familiar with the Upper West Side, I don't think you will find a better, more knowledgeable person than Michael (W81).

For a little about me:
http://theburkhardtgroup.com/agents_details.php?agent_ID=7619

I used to live in Malibu(83-90),I really miss the Southern California lifestyle. Pratt is an excellent school and even better now that the neighborhood has changed (for the better IMHO) I hope your son gets in!