The vast majority of buyers and sellers in New York City use a real estate broker for their transactions. Or do they use a real estate agent? Realtor? Brokerage? These terms are often thrown around interchangeably but represent different parts of the real estate industry and each is a slightly different type of real...Read More
While searching for an apartment, buyers sometimes find a listing that’s too good to be true. It’s very similar to all the others except it’s dramatically cheaper. Upon further review, they notice the maintenance is much higher than other listings. What’s going on? Chances are, they’re dealing with a ground lease. What is a...Read More
After a little bit of homework, most buyers and sellers learn the basic taxes associated with buying, owning and selling real estate in New York City. There’s the mansion tax, transfer taxes, mortgage recording tax and property taxes. The one “tax” that is often a surprise is the flip tax. All buyers, especially co-op...Read More
A lot of people, especially those who live outside New York City, have only a vague notion what a co-op building is and isn’t. Sure, they know it’s some sort of apartment, but the details and particularities of a co-op’s structure are often hazy at best. We’ve even heard of people confusing co-ops buildings...Read More
You’re getting ready to buy your first property in New York City. It’s exciting. It’s nerve-wracking. It’s expensive. Nevertheless, you feel you have a good idea of what costs to expect on closing day: purchase price – check, legal fees – check, title costs – wait, why is this title bill so high?! Chances...Read More
All NYC real estate buyers should know about buyer agent commission rebates, understand how they work and how to get one. Through this guide, we’ll make sure that you understand everything there is to know about commission rebates as well. Table of Contents: What are buyer agent commission rebates? What are the biggest...Read More
What Is the Mansion Tax NYC? The mansion tax is a real estate transfer tax imposed by New York State on any sales or transfers of real estate with a sale price of $1 million or more. It was first introduced in 1989 when $1 million obviously bought you a much larger apartment than today....Read More
In our first blog entry, we explained why the value of a buyer’s broker has gone down significantly. You may be wondering why you need one at all. It’s a great question, one we’ll explore in this post. In short, by using a buyer’s broker, you’ll receive dedicated representation for free and if your broker...Read More
In a previous post, we asked Why Aren’t Commission Rebates More Common In NYC? We’re sure some readers may have wondered, “Just how clear is the law when it comes to commission rebates?” Are they legal or just tolerated? Thankfully for buyers, the law in New York is very clear – commission rebates are...Read More
New York City real estate owners have seen numerous startling headlines regarding the recent tax changes. Most notably, Moody’s predicted New York County would see the sixth largest price declines in the country due to the cap on state, local and property taxes1. Their estimated 10% decline will surely cause buyers to think twice...Read More
