Warburg Blog

Watching the Goldman Sachs drama unfold, I am struck by the fact that, more than anything else, those of us who sell things are obligated to be clear about who we work for. During my career I have sold plenty of property I did not like and even some property I did not think was particularly well built or well designed. But I have always tried to be clear to everyone about who I work for. If I represent the seller, I will always be honest and forthright with buyers but I probably won’t be bending over backwards to point out that the molding is crooked or the sheetrock is thin. If I represent the buyer, on the other hand, I will be all over those issues and I will be looking to get answers. But in each case I have to make it perfectly clear to both the buyer and seller whose side I am on.

In most of the country, and most of New York State, agents are required to sign written disclosure forms which memorialize who they represent. In the co-op and condo world, however, written agency disclosure is only required when the property in question is in a building with four units or fewer. So most of the time the law doesn’t require it in co-op and condo buildings, which tend to have many more units than four. But disclosure itself is always required. A lot of agents don’t do it, and they should! If you are a buyer and you show up at an open house and then want to make a bid, you should be aware that the agent running the open house represents the seller, not you. And the agent should tell you that before you make an offer. If you are seeing a property with your agent which is his or her exclusive, you need to talk about representation. As the exclusive agent, he or she definitely represents the seller. But your agent can still represent you too, acting as a dual agent, if that is OK with  both you and the owner.

More often than not representation is straightforward. There are two agents, one representing each side. But it can get complicated when both agents work for the same company, or when there is only one agent involved in the transaction. And the agent is obligated to make it all perfectly clear.

Goldman Sachs brokers didn’t do anything wrong selling securities they did not like much. Every salesman has done that. But were they clear and transparent about who they were working for? Not so much, it seems. And there’s the problem.

As we were leaving our exclusive at 120 Central Park South the other day, heading back to the Warburg offices on 76th and Madison, we traveled on foot by way of Central Park.  We found ourselves discussing everything we love so much about this great gift to the city from Olmstead. 

With the Columbus Circle shops and restaurants, The Plaza, and Lincoln Center as “Main Street”, Whole Foods as the local grocer, and The Great Lawn as the front yard, we concluded, “Surely someone is going to relish in calling this home, or home away from home.”   We know we would, and we couldn’t have dreamed up a more enjoyable commute if we tried! 

Well priced, and with some of the lowest maintenance costs of any luxury full service building in the area, 120 Central Park South is simply enticing.  Come see for yourself.

http://www.warburgrealty.com/property/706123

www.centralparknyc.org

www.lincolncenter.org

www.shopsatcolumbuscircle.com

Because of the recent uptick in NYC foreclosures, I began doing some research on the types of foreclosures taking place in the city and the process of purchasing a foreclosure. In the attached link, I discuss some of the risks of and obstacles to purchasing foreclosure at auction. I have gathered my information from attorneys specializing in foreclosure purchases, title specialist, and foreclosure investors. Later I will post additional video blogs discussing the purchase process in more detail and actual foreclosures taking place in Manhattan.

Risks & Obstacles to Purchasing Foreclosures at Auction in NYC – SEE FULL VIDEO

Rebecca Edwardson

We left off where the Development had changed hands and now coincidentally come to Warburg Realty.  Sally was sure this was a sign, a karmic message confirming that this was indeed the home for her.  I neglected to mention that during that summer Sally had discovered a few items on her credit report that needed attention, so she hired at the suggestion of her mortgage broker, Helayne Urban Credit Coach, Inc. and within 3 months managed to add substantial points to her credit score and making the mortgage process a lot smoother.  So on September 15, 2009 and feeling a bit more confident that things were progressing on a more positive note; another offer of $650K went to the sponsor.  Also working in Sally’s favor at this time was the sponsor offering to pay closing costs and money towards an attorney.  Sally is now determined to make this happen and moves full steam ahead, but discovers that the property she had been bidding on now has a full all cash offer of $700K.  This is not good news for Sally as she is not about to get into a bidding war and decides to back off, but is informed by the brokers that the same exact apartment is available on the floor below.  Disappointed and heartbroken, Sally contemplates yet again……………

There has been a lot of focus and media attention on social networks in recent months. Facebook, we are told, now has a population of users which would make it the fourth largest country in the world. My network on LinkedIn connects me to the networks of all my connections, in an ever-expanding ripple effect of people near and far. And Twitter…my wife is re-tweeting links and articles all day long to her burgeoning list of followers. it is all fun and interesting. It clearly has enormous upside potential for both social and business endeavors, although as yet no one seems to have cracked the code on exactly how that will work. And it is dangerous!

The current Goldman Sachs SEC investigation stems in large part from injudicious e-mail messages written by a 30-year-old trader, reminding us once again that e-mail is never private, and it is never gone. It is easy to forget that as you sit in your bedroom responding to e-mail at 1 A.M., and people easily forget the same thing about Facebook. You had better get rid of that photo of you in your underwear holding a bong if you are applying for a job or to a college. And you had better make sure your kids do the same if you are applying to a co-op. One story making the rounds of New York real estate this week is about a co-op Board turndown which came after compromising photos appeared on the Facebook page of the applicant’s child.

New technologies change our world, influencing how we interact and with whom. In the Web 2.0 era, the blending of the personal and the professional is inevitable and, when managed judiciously, even desirable. People who know a little about you may feel more comfortable approaching you professionally, thus expanding your sphere of influence.  Similarly, social networking sites can provide extensive exposure for listings and blogs, promoting the agent/writer as an expert in the field (I will post this blog entry to both Facebook and LinkedIn as soon as it is finished.) But the key word here is “judicious.” Don’t say too much. Don’t be prurient. Don’t log in thrity times a day, informing others about where you are having dinner or when you are brushing your teeth. Social networks are just like any other social situation: what you get out of it has everything to do with how skillfully you manage what you put in.

In the meantime, feel free to friend me on Facebook!

Tudor City Place is a unique enclave of New York City- It’s an amazing collection of Pre War Fredrick French architecture built in the late 1920s. This cozy enclave is awash English Tudor Dynasty lore: The golden Age of Arts and Letters; gargoyles, lion, eagles, ornate ornamentation and stained glass abound……. all within walking distance of Grand Central Station and the United Nations, Take a look at what I found.

25 Tudor City Place, Apt. 619

HAMPTONS WATERFRONT OPEN HOUSE
Sat & Sun April 17 & 18
180 Mid Ocean Drive, Bridgehampton
Bayfront Modern With Ocean Access
Powered by the Earth and Sun; Embellished by the Sky and Surf. Constructed of: Master craftsmanship using natural materials including rift white oak, clear cedar, bamboo and exotic Cumaru decking, geothermal cooling, natural gas heating, Electric Solar PV Roof and whole house water filtration. Adorned with: Gaggenau, Dorn Bracht faucets, window walls of Loewen copper clad windows, showers with air infusion technology, Toto two flush toilets, Crestron home automation, Bain Ultra Vedana Spa and Roma steam room and media room. Result: 5,500 +/- sq. ft. of living space, 5 bedrooms (includes 1,400 sq. ft. 5-room master suite), 6 baths, heated gunite salt water pool and spa, 2,000 sq. ft. of deck, outdoor Viking kitchen and entertaining area, 3-car garage, 2,000 sq. ft. basement, dock and deeded ocean access. Nominated for the Gold Level National Home Builders Green Award. 

Did you realize that six kilometers is the distance many women and children must walk every day to secure water in the developing world? Or that only 1 % of water in the world is drinkable? To draw attention to those facts and many others concerning a looming water crisis, there are run/walks in 150 countries worldwide on April 18^th   sponsored by Dow and Live Earth. In a completely integrated effort, the events feature concerts and water education activities to ignite a massive global movement to help solve the water crisis. Here’s the link to a fun interactive registration site which shows all the runs worldwide http://liveearth.org/en/run . Type in your city or zip code to find a walk/run nearby.

From the site “The City that never sleeps will be coming together on April 18th as New York comes out to run Prospect Park at the Dow Live Earth Run For Water. Running or walking 6km makes the realities of water scarcity real.  Make sure you are with us as we highlight this world wide issue that affects all of us. THE ROOTS with special guest JOHN LEGEND will perform following the 6K run/walk.”

At the Winter Meeting of the REBNY Brooklyn Committee 2 of the Broker Members were reporting on activity in Williamsburg.  They each had large new developments to promote and sell and those properties came on line in late 2007 and early 2008.  There had been an initial burst of enthusiastic selling followed by a long quiet time.  You could tell the same story in any “emerging” neighborhood in New York.  In the fall of 2009 these developers began to capitulate on price, at long last accepting the “new reality” which as usual is simply reality.  Williamsburg was flooded with new development in 2007/08.  Many more units available than could possibly be absorbed in even the hottest selling environment.  The market in New York was showing signs of life and steady progress in the number of sales through the summer and fall of 2009 especially in Resale.  There had never been a rush to market with properties that “had to be sold” and consequently there had never been a large buildup of unsold inventory.  As the availability of apartments for resale dwindled buyers began to look at new developments again and discovered that some places were now reasonably priced and the developers were offering incentives.  Our Williamsburg Brokers were reporting that business was brisk.  The long quiet time was now over.  My next installment will be about a few places in Williamsburg and some other neighborhoods I have visited recently.

Warburg Realty Partnership, one of New York’s oldest and most respected residential brokerage firms, has unveiled its newly revamped agent pages as part of the firm’s overall website enhancement. The redesign seamlessly incorporates the various social media outlets utilized by each agent. 

At the forefront of implementing social media outlets into daily business practices, Warburg agents are actively blogging and using Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to provide news, market highlights and exclusive listing information. The pages will continue to provide the agent’s recent press mentions, exclusive listings, biography, recent sales and downloadable contact information. The reconfigured pages are part of the newly-enhanced www.warburgrealty.com; designed to address the dynamic needs of the online community.

“More and more our agents are supplementing their traditional print and on-line marketing with social media. By integrating social media into our site, we enable our visitors to access our blogs and social networks with just the click of a button,” said Frederick W. Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership. “The website has become our primary marketing vehicle, and these improvements provide additional content for the thousands of users who visit warburgrealty.com every day.”

The new agent pages and revamped website is enhanced by the Warburg AroundMe app, which provides its exclusive property listings on the iPhone/iTouch.

Visitors to the site will still enjoy the “My Warburg” functionality, where buyers and sellers are able to create a personalized log-in. The saved search criteria allows Warburg customers the ability to receive real-time updates as new properties come on the market, add shared notes with their agent, and compare properties that match their saved search criteria. Through “My Warburg,” sellers have access to detailed statistical and marketing information on their properties, including recent print and online initiatives and internet hits.

Warburg’s site also contains simple and intuitive search functions including an interactive map, neighborhood breakdown, pricing and an entire list of additional criteria ranging from outdoor space to pet-friendly homes.  On the property detail page, buyers can view interactive floor plans that bring the residences to life through photographs correlating to the room layout.

Warburg’s site enables visitors to search for agents by name, specialty, or by one of the ten foreign languages spoken fluently by associates in the firm.  The resources section is true to its name, and provides a deep mine on information on the process of buying or selling a home in New York City. The page outlines closing costs, a full glossary of terms customers often encounter, and a detailed explanation of the process step-by-step. There is a complete neighborhood guide to Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as a high-tech mortgage calculator allowing visitors to compare different financial scenarios.