Warburg Blog

Beautiful spaces with windows in kitchens,
Bright streaming light that leaves buyers smitten,
Board applications lined up ‘til Spring,
These are a few of our favorite things…

Lofts with wide terraces and laughter in homes,
Extra wide brownstones that all want to own,
River view condos that have everything,
These are a few of our favorite things…

If the rain falls when we’re showing,
Or the Dow reports bad,
We simply remember our favorite things,
And then we all feel so glad!

From all of us at Warburg Realty,
we wish you a year filled with
peace, laughter and new homes!

In my office there is a framed copy of words which my great grandfather Felix Warburg always kept on his desk. It says : “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

Without always realizing it, I have been motivated since childhood by the desire to live up to these words.  I hope it is the animating spirit for what makes us unique at Warburg. Because every organization, every office is its own little solar system and within that system the balance between what is being given and what is being taken is always in flux.

In recent months, the son of one of my cousins has been living with my brother Elliot, who is a lawyer in San Francisco. This young man, who has been working with native people in Central America for much of the last two years, is highly focused on social philanthropy and asked my brother if he doesn’t feel badly sometimes about being a criminal defense attorney in a world where there is so much social injustice. Ah, to be 25 again! But Elliot gave him a wonderful answer which has resonated with me deeply ever since we spoke about it. He said: “The work I do frequently keeps innocent people out of jail. But more importantly, it feeds my family and sends my kids to school. Because of the work I do, many people, both at our office and other offices around the Bay Area, are employed. They can feel proud that because of what THEY do, THEIR families are fed and clothed and educated. That is what I believe in.”

I am proud of Warburg Realty for exactly the same reason. Because of what our agents do, our wonderful staff is able to provide for their families and their own well being. Stagers, attorneys, decorators and architects throughout the city are able to work because of OUR work. Developers build buildings because there is a market for them, that market often created and supplemented by our work, our insight, our expertise. So every deal we make begins a cascade of economic benefit. New York hums along on real estate, and we are one of the elements at the center of that vibrant hub.

I admire every one of our agents and employees. Each of us has a story. In all those stories, where we work, where we spend so many of our waking hours, is a starting point for good intentions and acts of generosity. Every time we are helpful to a colleague, every time we give the benefit of the doubt, try to imagine ourselves in the shoes of the other agent, or the client or customer, we are honoring those words in the frame in my office. 2010 has been a terrific year for us. But a good year is not just about money. It is just as important to me to know that our firm’s reputation as fair minded, as highly professional, as setting a standard for integrity, continues to grow from transaction to transaction.

With winter fast approaching and the holiday season knocking on our door, it may seem premature to look beyond the first quarter of next year as we speak about NY real estate.    Yet I couldn’t help putting pen to paper as I let my thoughts wander to next year and what it might bring.

The big question on my mind is:  where will the next pool of buyers come from to drive the market forward?  We had the vultures swoop in during the market’s lows, then we had first time home buyers drive purchases, and most recently those looking to upgrade to larger homes have propelled the market forward, both in terms of volume and prices.  Could it be that first time home buyers may take the helm again next year?

It is very clear that the ultimate goal of the Fed and Treasury is to create or maintain low interest rates.  (One stated reason for Fed’s new move to purchase over $600,000 Billion of new mortgages).  The idea is that people can thus afford more of a home.  Subsequent home purchases may help create a solid floor for the housing market, serving to stabilize it and solidify a new foundation upon which further growth can take place.  For more than a year now, industry experts have largely agreed that “rates have nowhere to go but up” and have had to swallow this statement over and over as rates have instead inched lower (not including the last few weeks of increases). 

What if, I wonder, rates continue to stay this low or *gasp* move even lower?  How might next year play out?  According to current wisdom, Q1 is likely to be bolstered by a very robust bonus season, activity which would then be reflected in Q2 numbers. By April / May, buyers will be reading this data, reassured that “the worst is indeed behind us” and perhaps getting nervous (as many are already) that they missed the bottom.   This is the magic window; this might be what makes or breaks next year based on a simple truth:  75% of leases turn over in the city between May and September.  This is the magic window in which those renters looking to buy would finally take the plunge rather than renew their leases.  I don’t mean the perma-renters (those tenants who will never be in a position or have the desire to purchase). I speak rather the other two categories of renters:   previous owners who sold and are renting temporarily and potential first time buyers who have not yet purchased a home.

If the rental market maintains its current strength through next year, landlord rental rates will inch up again, another wave of first time home buyers is a distinct possibility.  This could especially be the case if the renter runs a Buy vs. Cost comparative analysis using current or slightly lower mortgage rates.  Further, since Summer tends to be dead, from a seasonal sales standpoint, that extra volume injection based on market psychology may surprise on the upside as the next wave of first time home-buyer holdouts actually purchase a home.

Then, of course, the question is:  will supply follow suit?  Will sellers then be convinced that the market is healthy enough to now list OR will enough existing inventory be absorbed to create a meaningful increase in prices?  It is here where my hypothesis ends, though I welcome your thoughts and predictions.  In the meantime, I will be diligently watching rates and the market (as I’m sure you will as well), hoping for a good holiday season for all … and a prosperous New Year!

Year after year, in good times and bad, New Yorkers by the thousands  flock to prewar co-ops. Why? In a city where there is a substantial supply of new condominiums with much less invasive requirements and much more modern amenities, what keeps New Yorkers coming back again and again to the apartments built between 1910 and 1930? In addition to their prime locations, buyers love the feel of these prewar buildings – the big rooms, the well planned layouts and the generous hallway and service spaces. And the apartment design revolution which brought these buildings to us was pioneered by the three towering figures of apartment architecture: J.E.R. Carpenter, Emery Roth, and Rosario Candela.

J.E.R. Carpenter, the oldest of the three architects, was raised in Tennessee and already an active architect by the turn of the 20^th century. Carpenter’s work is characterized by a refined Georgian elegance which gave even his grandest apartments, like those at 4 East 66^th St and 1060 Fifth Avenue, a sense of restraint. His 635 Park Avenue (pictured), full floor 13 room apartments (in one of which I grew up) built in 1912, is famous for having codified two element of apartment living which were then imitated by both Candela and Roth: the central foyer, essentially serving as a circulation space between living room, dining room, and library, and the functional separation of the apartment into three discrete zones – entertaining (the living room, library, and dining room), private (the bedrooms), and service (the kitchen and maids’ quarters.)

Emery Roth, an Austro-Hungarian by birth, came to this country at the age of 13 and apprenticed with a number of famous architects, including Richard Morris Hunt and Ogden Codman, before beginning his own practice. His sleek Classical style, with Beaux Arts and Deco flourishes, is best exemplified by the two iconic buildings he created which dominate the Central Park West skyline, the twin-towered San Remo on 74^th Street and the fortress-like Beresford (facade pictured), towering over its corner on 81st.  He subsequently served as consulting architect on the Eldorado, which clearly shows its debt to the San Remo (interior pictured) in both façade and apartment layouts. The apartments in these buildings are characterized by large rooms (although with relatively small casement windows), long galleries stretching between the living rooms at one end and the dining room at the other, and shipshape master bathrooms containing both a large porcelain bathtub and a fully tiled stall shower.

Rosario Candela, who was born in Sicily in 1890 and came to New York at the age of 16, is probably Manhattan’s best known apartment house architect. Not surprisingly, his work was highly influenced by the Italian master of proportion, Palladio. In creating many of New York’s best known apartment houses, including 834 and 960 Fifth Avenue and 720, 740 (pictured), 770 (pictured), and 778 Park, Candela pioneered a style of apartment layouts which are unfailingly graceful and intuitive, with large foyers, sweeping circular staircases, and grandly sized master baths.  He also designed tiered setbacks on the upper floors of many of his buildings, creating the wedding cake effect which is such a beautiful feature of our skyline today.

Today, many of the condo architects such as Robert Stern take pride in recreating Carpenter or Candela layouts with all the modern touches. But for many New Yorkers, they just prefer the real thing.

Technology affords enchanced efficiencies that help to ensure my customers and clients remaining fully informed as their transcation proceeds smoothly to its end goal. Below is my quote in a blog post on why do agents love technology.

As many of you saw, last week I wrote a post about a contest that Chris and I had thought up to help grow the page of Tech Savvy Agent and also say thank you to those of you who helped make the network what it is today.  Our goal was to reach 10,000 fans by the NAR convention.  In a 10 day period we were able to add over 800 fans to the page!  At the time of writing this post, there were 10,275 fans! You guys are awesome!

To give you just an idea of how much help you all provided, the contest post was shared on Facebook & Twitter over 580 times combined!  We had well over 200 people enter the contest which is awesome!  Without all of your help, Tech Savvy never would have made it!  So enough blabbering on , let’s get down to the reason you are all here!  You want to know who won the contest!  Here are our winners!

Third Place- Personal Coaching

Our third place prize was a one hour personal coaching call with Chris.  Because of everyone’s generosity in sharing about Tech Savvy and the contest, Chris decided to offer up an additional hour of coaching for each additional 100 fans over 10,000.  So this means that two extra people will also be receiving an hour of coaching with Chris.

The winners of the personal coaching with Mr. Tech Savvy Agent himself are: (Cue Drumroll…..)

• Teri Conrad
• Wendy Herndon
• Josh NeKrep

Second Place- Custom Facebook Page

The second place winner is receiving a custom Facebook Page from Suzanne Roy.  This is Valued at $299 and is a great tool to have in your online marketing bag.  If you have been thinking about this, for your business, reach out to Suzanne for help.  And the winner is:

• Sheri Moritz

First Place- Custom WordPress Site

The grand prize winner is receiving a Custom WordPress Site designed by 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors.  The site includes basic design, customization and set up, installation of 15 of the top plugins available for WordPress, and setup of SEO components to make site Search Engine Optimized.  (winner is responsible for their own hosting and domain name purchase). The winning site will also be featured in an upcoming blog post on the Tech Savvy Agent site.

And the Winner is:

Nikki Beauchamp!

As the grand prize winner Nikki will not only receive a brand new Custom WordPress Site built by myself, but it will also be featured in the upcoming weeks in a blog post here on Tech Savvy Agent.  We will share before & after photos as Nikki’s new site get’s built.  Also, make sure to keep an eye on my media section as I will sneak out previews of the site over the next few days as things are being built.  I am excited to work with Nikki to build her brand new WordPress blog.

Thanks again to everyone who entered into our contest. If you did not win but would like more information on getting your WordPress Site started, feel free to contact me.

via techsavvyagent.com

Guest blog post which originally appeared on the Tech Savvy Agent blog before REBC Rye,which I served on the planning committee for,as well as lead several sessions for real estate agents .

Apples, oranges, blackberries, and droids-doesn’t all of this sound like a futuristic fruit salad?  And as if that isn’t confusing enough-everyone is talking about Twitter, Facebook, blogging and SEO -which really sounds like cereal (note to self, don’t write when hungry…)

Are you curious, or possibly more likely, totally confused by what to do and how to use any of these tools in your business?  Wary of people peddling their wares, promising to make things work; catapult you to the top of search engines-for a (often hefty and absurd) price?

Bring your confusion to RE Bar Camp Rye!

What is a bar camp you ask? It is an unconference, an event driven by YOU the attendee, low cost (in this case FREE thanks to our wonderful sponsors and volunteers-full disclosure I am one of the latter). It’s a great way to wet your palette, jam packed with knowledge, from people just like you, other real estate professionals, from the trenches. Its not about sitting in a room having fruit thrown at you, please don’t throw fruit at us, but its about planting seeds, sharing knowledge ,starting and furthering relationships , taking the online offline, so that we may do what we do best even better, serve our clients ! Have something you want to discuss or present on that you are knowledgeable about-doesn’t have to be social media related-DO come and participate too, or if you’re a little shy-send us suggestions too.

Extra special bonus, we in the NYC are lucky to now be home to one of the co-founders of the Tech Savvy Agent blog, which recently was recognized as most innovative blog by Inman News. Chris Smith will be at REBC Rye!!!! Here is a prime opportunity to connect and engage directly, ask questions, learn what may work for you!  Become a tech savvy agent, so you can learn what could work or not for you, and become an informed consumer, learn what is worth investing your time (and money) into or not.

And, by the way, if you don’t believe in the power of  the fruit salad (if its for you, or that it works for anyone) WHEN (not if) you come to REBC Rye, be sure an introduce yourself to me and I will be glad to tell you some of the awesome things I’ve learned, people I have met, and yes, even business too!  At the end of the day, it’s not about social media, it’s about integrating tools to improve your business, that hasn’t changed-it’s just that now we have to “plug in” occasionally…

Don’t miss this event, register at www.rebarcamprye.com, connect and engage on http://facebook.com/rebcrye (and for those of you tweeting, the event hashtag is #rebcrye-if you don’t know what that is,come ,and find out !)

Follow me there !  The event is on Saturday September 11th from 8:30 to 4:30 in Rye, NY at the Hilton.

Nikki Beauchamp is on the planning committee for REBC Rye, an agent at Warburg Realty in NYC,, blogs on the Warburg Realty blog, and at YourNYCRealEstateResource.com …and of course on twitter and facebook!

Periodically,I am asked by the great team at Tech Savvy Agent to contribute blog posts on technology and the role it plays in my life as a real estate professional,below is my recent post on the “new” Facebook profiles.

If you are on Facebook, and concerned about privacy, especially after recent changes, and after watching the 60 Minutes interview- there many things you need to consider.
Your privacy and information are things that YOU control. You should be conscious of what it is you are sharing and with whom. Be aware of who you are connected to, and what they are sharing about you. What is your strategy for using Facebook at all ? If you don’t have a strategy that integrates with your overall business plan. Stop reading, go figure that out, then come back and tailor your settings in accordance with your strategy (and this goes for anything you are using or planning to use in your business).

As of the writing of this post, I had already upgraded to the new profile, so I can’t show you what my profile used to look like. (How did I get the new profile, well  went to this URL :  http://www.facebook.com/about/profile/)
This is what my profile looks like now and here’s an example of a page without photos:

Notice that in my profile across the top-you can see where I work, where I studied, who I am attached to, languages I speak and where I am from. That is new-that used to be buried deep in the profile before. Ok-so maybe it’s a good thing that that is front and center. It will give people a more 3D view of who you are, immediately-in a day where attention spans are ever diminishing ,its all front and center. The profile on the left, you don’t see the photos.

Next new thing-there are five snapshots directly below that. DANGER WILL ROBINSON .These are photos that you are tagged in, the five most recent ones. What’s the problem here ? Many people rarely tag themselves in photos they upload, but others often tend to tag you (if you have that setting set-there is also a way, so that you are tagged in photos, but no one else can see them). Here’s an example of a profile, with none of the photos up top. If we can ever figure out how KH did this, I promise to write a follow up post!

Another new thing : like Facebook Places, when you update your interests and activities-be forewarned. When you list something as an activity, you have the option to tag someone. Which means someone else can very well tag you in an activity and it will appear on your profile ! (Be proactive and diligent about knowing what you are doing and what others are saying or doing on your behalf)

Now, before you freak out over all of this information and who is going to see your photos, there’s a pretty simple solution, which you should be employing in your use of Facebook regardless. Lists! Lists make privacy settings OH so much easier to manage, not to mention, great for time management (especially important if you ever use Facebook chat, you can appear offline to say, your chatty cousins ! ) How useful would it be to say create a list of current clients ? Past clients ? Friends ? Family ? Colleagues ? My list categories (which I need to work on reorganizing again) correlate to the categories in my contact database. Why ? Why not- make your life as simple as possible. (And looking over my lists, I need to go in and merge and create some new ones again-always meeting new people, and they need to be categorized appropriately on Facebook, as they are in my contacts database!)

Go to Account settings  privacy settings, and you end up at the screen below. The area you want to look at is “Things Others Share” . You can edit everything from who can see photos and videos that you are tagged in (and changing this will impact how your photos appear on profiles overall and to whom). Additionally, you can edit whether people can tag you when they check in somewhere using Facebook Places, as well as who can see your wall posts.

And here is a screen shot, of how you can use your newly created lists to make things available to only certain groups of people-hypothetically below I am posting something that I only want my “Realtors” list to see.

Someone suggested, in a thread discussion on Tech Savvy Agent’s Facebook page that having two accounts is useful, so you can see how your profile TRULY appears to others. Ok,there is one HUGE problem with that. It is against the terms of service-when you signed up for Facebook,you agreed to commit to certain rules, one of them is having only one personal account. The screen below, is within privacy settings,where you can see this what my profile (after locking down various settings to only me/friends) looks like to someone who has just found me ,and on the right is what a friend would see.

Now, if you have any questions,I’m always willing to help ,and if I don’t know the answer,I will either research it or point you to someone who does. Remember-be in control of your information and your identity !

Nikki Beauchamp is an agent at Warburg Realty in New York City  and blogs on the Warburg Realty blog and as well as her personal blog,the newly revamped YourNYCRealEstateResource.com. She has also recently helped organize and presented at REBC Rye .And of course can be found on Facebook and Twitter !

I think a great way to explore any country,city or neighborhood,is thru its culinary options.Maybe that’s a function of my love of great food ! Living in New York City,there’s never a shortage of places to explore,sometimes feels like an endless array of cuisines.

That said,from December 6- December 10 2010 is East Harlem’s Restaurant Week.

The week is kicking off at East River Plaza on Monday December 6th and the week ends on December 10th with the Taste of East Harlem Holiday Trolley which will make various stops in a loop amongst the participating restaurants.Also on the 10th there is a tree lighting on 106th and 3rd Avenue in front of Ponce De Leon Federal Bank.

Participating restaurants will have prix-fixe menus from $15-25 plus specialty drinks.

For more information visit  www.eastharlempresents.org. Wow,as I look at the list,I’ve been to 12 out of the 16 participating restaurants.Some of my favorites have included East Harlem Cafe, La Fonda Boricua,Camaradas,Don Pedro’s and Ricardo’s Steakhouse. I hope to try some of the other places I’ve never been to,like Makana.

Have a wonderful week ,and enjoy exploring East Harlem and its restaurants -great idea to go shop at East River Plaza and stop for lunch or dinner in the area !

Happy Holidays !

via yournycrealestateresource.com