Halstead Property

Jill Sloane
Exec. Vice President
Westside Office
Tel: (212) 381-2206
jsloane@halstead.com

Jay K. Overbye
Exec. Vice President
Village Office
Tel: (212) 381-2247
joverbye@halstead.com

Flexibility The Key To Success Say Brokers

By Bill Cresenzo

The New York City residential real estate world is full of irritation pontification and speculation.

“You could ask 10 brokers and they are all going to have a different story,” said Jill Sloane, a broker with Halstead Property, about the current state of the market. “I think in New York, we will always have an advantage, because people are always going to be coming to New York.”

For her part, Sloane has a great story to tell. She recently closed on a condo that ignited a bidding war, and the apartment sold for $50,000 over the asking price.  “I sold four apartments last week,” she said.

Frances Katzen of Prudential Douglas Elliman said that while right now may be an uncertain period for brokers; the housing market is still strong in Manhattan, particularly among homes that are priced right.

“It’s simple,” she said: “If an apartment is priced right, it will sell.” She also said foreign investment is taking up any slack that the weak dollar has caused in the real estate market.

The mortgage crisis hasn’t affected Manhattan like the rest of the country, although brokers are starting to see ramifications. Sloane said that for the most part, “if someone has really good credit, they’ll breeze right through,” and get financing.

But just last week, Jay Overbye of Halstead Property, encountered something he said has been extremely rare, until now at least.

Just a couple of weeks ago, he was about to close on a $699,000 condo when the buyer had to back out because he could not get 80% financing, even though he had been pre-approved.

“It was very disappointing Overbye said. “We really had to counsel our seller that the deal was victimized by the mortgage changes. I think that because of the mortgage criteria being tougher, this would not have happened eight months ago.”

Sloane and Katzen said that sellers may have to become more flexible when it comes to negotiating. Overbye said that the potential buyer didn’t lose anything on his recent collapsed deal because the deal was contingent on him getting financing. He said he suspects that more sellers will become more open to deals contingent on financing, but only if the buyer is qualified and has pre-approved status.

“Sellers need to be more flexible now,” he said.

Overbye said that while Manhattan is still very hot, sales have slowed in Brooklyn, where he is the sales agent for a condo complex in Williamsburg.

“I’ve heard about the summer months being slow (in Brooklyn), and I am now just experiencing that,” he said.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008