And Just Like That We're Off To The Races!

As written here previously and backed up by data, the market took a breather from approximately August 2015 until Easter 2016. Agents were tracking me down to ask if my clients were going to be making an offer, 'They seemed to love it, asked a lot of questions'. Just for the record, that usually is a clients polite way of saying I don't care for this property. When a buyer actually does love a space, it's poker face time! (As told to me my dozens of clients!)

So what happened? I have no idea, however days after Easter my phone and email both went a bit nuts! Both with new clients as well as previous clients that were back on the prowl. To date we have signed 14 or 15 contracts since that time, have a few accepted offers that are days from signing and continue to be busy with current, active clients.

The market is far from what we experienced in 2014, however well priced homes in prime/good locations are attracting multiple bids above ask (in most cases). What we really have is a healthy, liquid market. But if you're a seller, don't get greedy, buyers aren't dummies and your agent isn't a magician. Price a home correctly and the marketplace will take care of the rest. Brokers and agents are more akin to conductors, certainly an important function to the process. However they are not playing the music, just orchestrating it.

The past few months we witnessed a great release of energy. Will it continue? I think so, though a bit muted. I'm sensing a wee bit of cooling in our little world, time will tell.

Best,

Keith
The Burkhardt Group
917.770.4951

Choose Your Attorney Carefully!

Wow, this could become a series! "Choose your blank carefully". Once you have an accepted offer on a property the two most important people involved will be your banker and attorney. I have already covered the banker part, so here are a few words on what to look for in an attorney.

I think it's a good idea to have an attorney that has a solid team back in his/her office that are available to handle any last minute surprises. Many real estate attorneys are one person shows and much of their time is spent out of the office reading board minutes or in closings. It is especially important that they have a qualified person(s) back at the shop to handle things. For this reason I prefer a shop that has at least one additional attorney on board as well as additional supporting staff.

For the most part residential real estate transactions are pretty straight forward in NYC. However stuff can get a bit hairy and also be time sensitive, especially in a multi-offer situation. You don't want your attorney MIA for an extended period of time when the tomato hits the fan. For this reason a law firm with a few attorneys on board as well as a supporting cast of characters can be a very good idea. 

This advice is not absolute however something to consider when making this very important decision on legal representation. We feel having a solid team is critical in achieving optimal results. Everyone is important; your real estate broker/agent, banker and attorney to ensure a successful transaction. This is not rocket science, however there is a method to the madness that is buying/selling NYC real estate.

Next: Choose your broker/agent carefully!

Best,

Keith Burkhardt

917.770.4951

Choose Your Banker Carefully!

When The Burkhardt Group was conceived there were some initial ideas of how we would work and what we would offer. Most of these ideas came directly from my experience with clients or from reading the Streeteasy boards. One prominent and recurring bit of advice was 'never take a referral from your agent/broker'. And for the first year or two I did not offer clients any sort of referral for vendors.

That all changed as clients continued to bring poor performing service providers to the table, especially bankers and attorneys. These happen to be the two most important people in the transaction post contract being signed. Many 'bankers' or mortgage people are nothing more than sales people and application takers. You need a banker that understands the entire process and most importantly understands the underwriting process (that is where the fun starts!)

One of the first tells that a banker may be a mediocre performer is when he/she starts asking me for information about the building straight out of the gate! It's sort of like me asking the banker to to run a comps report. Any banker worth their salt knows that questions on the co-op or condo need to be directed to the managing agent. When the first time I hear from them is to ask me to get information from the managing agent; I know we are in trouble :) One consistently great banker is David Axelrod at BofA. I never hear from this guy until we get an email that they have the commitment letter. Then the next time is to tell me we are clear to close.

I know a lot of you out there thinks brokers stink or don't really work. And although this is not rocket science, I can tell you I am usually working until I go to bed. There are a lot of moving pieces in a co-op/condo deal, especially when you have 15 deals in contract and about 40 active buyers to manage. The last thing I want to do is the bankers job! If you don't know to call the managing agent to ask for the budget or a copy of the master insurance policy, you are either lazy or clueless or both! Lol.

So please make sure that you get a referral for your bankers from someone (you trust) that has used them before and had an excellent experience. Never just call your bank and tell them you are looking for a mortgage banker (even if you have private banking). I have a handful of bankers and we have worked with a few for many years and completed deals with all of them. One added perk using our referrals; they will go the extra mile for you to make sure that I am happy. They want our referrals and of course we accept nothing from any vendor we refer.

I'll write about the importance of lawyers and what to look out for in another post.

Best,

Keith
917.770.4951

Just When We Thought Things Were Slowing Down...

Last August we sent out a note to our clients that we were seeing signs that the winds might be shifting. We were sensing a softening in the market, something we had not seen in the previous 2 years; 2014 being a blow-out year for sellers! We continued to pay attention post Labor Day and the trend continued through December. The real test would be to see where things were around the second week of January and the trend continued to be our friend, we liked that!

The two weeks previous to Easter were slow, I mean really slow! I took a two day holiday with my kids two weekends ago, thinking this is a good time to be away, its dead! That Sunday night my phone and email blew up-5 new client calls, more new client calls that week. Suddenly we are swamped, submit 5 offers and all of a sudden it's calls for 'highest and best' on all but 2 of them. We had not seen 'highest and best' in months! I spoke to a client on Friday who confirmed what we were experiencing (he just came back post Easter, Spring break and just won a highest and best yesterday). He was seeing the same uptick in the activity levels of homes he was following on Streeteasy.

We are not saying the bull is back however we are watching closely. My feeling is that things will continue to 'normalize' and the surge over the last two weeks was more about pent up, post holiday demand (and a handful of attractive properties coming on line) than a 2014 style sellers market. At least that is what we are hoping for!

Keith Burkhardt
The Burkhardt Group
917.770.4951

This is How We Compete

When I first opened shop and began offering commission rebates with the promise of a 100% transparent service model I heard few cheers from anyone other than clients. What I did learn was that a number of agents were not interested in an alternative model that helped consumers save money using current technology. Many also thought what I was doing was illegal and spoke as if they were 100% certain of this (although the answer was a simple GOOGLE search away). New competition and thinking can be a scary thing. When disruptors like E-Trade, Costco, Bluenile, Uber, Kayak enter a market people get nervous, though consumers benefit. They may feel their way of doing things may come to an end or perhaps they may have to work a bit harder, get more creative. I think consolidation is an effective mechanism for markets, sort of like evolution; makes things more efficient.

When Streeteasy first went live and consumers started showing up at open houses armed with data points on sales history etc, brokers hated it, rolled their eyes. Fortunately most saw that it was not going away and instead embraced it, worked with it. It was a good moment for our industry or perhaps just a survival instinct! Those that fight change fade away and become an afterthought in time. You have to be confident and innovative to survive!

I love what we do and I truly enjoy the relationships we build with each new client. Our success is evident in the fact that we are 100% referral driven. Take a look at the kind words our clients have for the work we do. I have been in this business a long time, I could have started a brokerage based on traditional models. However it was exciting to take a risk, do something no one in NYC was doing and offer clients an alternative way to buy and sell real estate. There was certainly a desire for it (just read some of the early Streeteasy forum posts circa 2008).

The key to our success is offering a full service experience coupled with 100% transparency and a 100% non-sales approach. You have heard 'always be selling?' We are 'Never be selling!' Lol. We provide an opinion based on math and personal market experience and then suggest a strategy to get the transaction closed. We NEVER ask a client what they want to pay for a property; we always tell you what we think first. Then we discuss.

I wandered a bit here. What I really wanted to stress was the importance of competition and alternatives to create a dynamic, efficient market place. We work the way we do to be innovative and also compete against billion dollar companies! So far our clients have appreciated what we have to offer.

Best,

Keith Burkhardt
917.770.4951

Strange Days

The market is currently in a very strange place and i'm not quite sure what it will take to set things straight. The easy heady days for sellers is waning for sure, though we do see moments of bull market past for Goldilocks homes.  I personally feel a bit unsettled as small moves in oil swing the equity markets to and fro, rates up and down, an absolute bizarre presidential race taking place , negative rates and what seems like the impossibility of ever getting our economy normalized without first seeing a serious readjustment to equity markets.  Time will tell.

The data doesn't lie. According to UrbanDigs, condo sales are down 23.9% and co-op sales are down 22.3% from last year. Still pricing is holding up to some degree, we are not seeing a 'collapse' in valuations. More like a softening across most market segments.

There are also close to 10% more listings on the market now than the same time last year, I guess signs of a slowing market. However less listings are currently entering the market. Perhaps sellers and their agents are sensing the slowdown and are waiting to list deeper into the Spring market.

MahattanHenge!

Perhaps not the best article for a blog about buying real estate in NYC. The topic; what will future civilizations think of the grid arrangement of Manhattans streets? Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks they may conclude we worshiped baseball and war.

"War and Baseball"