Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

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seems great to me man, I think you should go for it. that's def less than similar sized apts in my neighborhood are going for.

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It is pretty similarly priced to some new construction in North Slope, but the new construction is not quite as desirable I think. It looks really good compared to the stuff in brownstones and such.

Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

Paluka,

As I mentioned to you, a number of friends of mine have sold their places in NYC over the past year with plans to rent for a couple of years before buying again. Whether or not their assessment of the market is any good is not something I am qualified to evaluate.

Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

fwiw, and this is a personal thing, I wouldn't want something that had been newly renovated, one because I enjoy doing renovations and that type of thing and two if you do a nice job it can really help your resale value. just something to consider as far as fixer uppers go.

Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

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Paluka,

As I mentioned to you, a number of friends of mine have sold their places in NYC over the past year with plans to rent for a couple of years before buying again. Whether or not their assessment of the market is any good is not something I am qualified to evaluate.

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One thing I should mention is that for whatever reason, Park Slope has an extreme lack of quality rentals. It is actually quite weird.

Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

What would a comparable place rent for?

Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

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What would a comparable place rent for?

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My best guess would be $4800

Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

I still would wait to buy, but this is probably as good a rent/purchase ratio as you can find right now.

Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

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nah, only 1.1

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Is it wrong that I think this is under priced? Good luck.

Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

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I still would wait to buy, but this is probably as good a rent/purchase ratio as you can find right now.

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I will say that the $4800 figure is based on the quality of the apartment. I live in a slightly larger apartment right now in basically the same location and only pay $3300, but the apartment needs renovations badly. But even if my $4800 guess is high, I'd say i'm 95% confident that it would be $4000 or higher.

Re: On the verge of buying apartment in Brooklyn, opinions?
 

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Any of you OOTers have opinions on real estate in NYC right now?

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I have been following the Manhattan market for a while now. Notwithstanding the fact that I had until recently a blog dedicated to the New York housing bubble, circumstances forced my wife to look at apartments to purchase and we have done so over the past 6 months.

My take is the following. Cracks in the U.S. housing bubble are starting to show everywhere, including areas outside of NYC such as Westchester and Long Island. However, they are showing much less (if at all) in NYC (including Brooklyn). My view is that (1) NY is lagging behind the rest of the country and will continue to do so and (2) unless the market tanks (which it may) NY may well be more resilient than other bubble areas because of the relatively strong job market. (Contrast with purely speculative markets such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Florida.) Still "resilient" doesn't necessarily mean appreciation; it just may mean that NYC gets hurt less than other areas. Notwithstanding the above, it would not at all shock me if avergae prices in NYC were off 15-10% within 18 months.

In NYC, where we have looked, inventory is definitely up and prices have levelled. There seems to be the classic standoff between sellers, who don't want to accept that they may not get 2005 peak prices anymore, and buyers, who want to see if prices are, in fact, dropping and, if so, how far.

When we go to open house now there are far fewer people than 1 year ago and you hear comments from other prosective purchasers that they may just wait a little lnger to see where prices head.

I live in the village and there are still not that many good listings which keeps prices up. However on the UES, inventory seems to be soraing IMO. I think that will push prices downward. I don'r know about Brooklyn though.

My bottom line is that I think the downside risk of prices falling far outweigh the upside potential of them appreciating much, if at all, in the near term.

Our plan is to wait things out in our rental unless we find a good deal. For us good deal means we can afford it and we will not have to move for a while . I would not want to buy anything I wans't planning to stay in for at least a minimum of 7 years as I think there could well be a rough patch ahead even in NYC.

If you have found a place that is affordable and suits longer term needs maybe you should go ahead. Three bedrooms give you some room to expand so you shuld be good for awhile. However, don't be surprised ifthe same apt. is significantly cheaper in 6 - 12 months.

Also, check out the following rent v. buy analysis tool that is specifcially geared to New York:

NY Rent v. Buy Calculator

Also, for the best collection of articles relating to the Housing Bubble in general, see:

Ben's Housing Bubble Blog