Buying a place on the Upper West Side. Advice?

I'll be new to the City. Looking for a place near to the 1, 9. What are real estate agents like in the City? Anything to look out for? I like the charm of the pre-war buildings but the mod. cons of the newer buildings - should I lean one way or the other? Any other advice?

 

LOL, Zack, I suggest that you ask your dad. Although, if I was you, I'd think about buying in London and telecommutting to class.

Dr "London" Tax

 

co-ops are generally more demanding. most pre-wars are co-ops. they can deman high down payments (min. usually 25%, in some cases more), and require an interview and complete financial records. condos are less cumbersome. my building, a condo on east 88th st., takes 10% down. and that doesn't mean it's a dump. dan akroyd lives here.

biggest broker is corcoran. check out their website for a huge inventory.

otherwise, it's pretty straight forward. values finally stopped growing at 5%+/month about 2 years ago, so now prices are just really expensive, vs. trully insane. general rule of thumb right now is about $600-700 per sq ft

 

zjpj,

What are your needs and price range? There are some apartments available in our spectacular building.

Rijk

 

Dr "Exeter sucks" Tax: The old man is completely gung ho. Wny rent when you can buy?

mrp_e: I'll check corcoran, thanks. I don't much mind putting 50% down - I can just refinance it after purchase. I don't much like the sound of co-ops but I feel like most apartments are...

rijk365gtb4: I'd say one bedroom, $400K, give or take.... Less would be great

 

advice= hoboken

 

Old Buildings = Resale value, charm, roaches, crappy views, no services, Some smells, older tenants

New Buildings = Views, Clean, services, no charm, younger tenants

Buy Market= incredibly hot, Bidding wars galore, No inventory

Rental Market=Lots of deals, quite soft

Rob

www.bridgehamptonmotoringclub.com

The Finest Collector Car Storage Facility on the Planet

 

So I guess this means that you are going to Columbia?

Congrats!

 

I went to admitted students week last week - it was SO great. The students, the facilities, the faculty were all wonderful. (NYU was crap, incidentally.) Still waiting on the Crimson folk up north, but I think CLS is the best law school in the country (for me.)