New York has a rich history, and many don’t remember that the city was once the capital of United States back in 1789 for just one year. The New York real estate market is a cornucopia of events, deals, and forgotten success stories. You would be amazed to learn that what you thought was fiction are true tales of New York’s rigorous realty market.
Janet Arklis
1. Empty State Building. The Empire State Building was commissioned in the great depression era. Since its inception, the majority of its space initially went unrented. In fact, the building saw vacancy rates as high as 77%! During the depression era, the building became known as the “empty state building.” Other more successful skyscrapers such as the Chrysler building didn’t have this problem.
2. An increase in rent is not deterring renters. New York is America’s most populous state, and it remains that way, despite the incessant complaints about its real estate being the priciest in the country. New York Realty does not follow the standard economic projection of reduction in sales when prices are up. Despite the continued increase, people still seem to prefer a home in New York even when the rent to income ratio is higher than the national average.
3. The ghost story is true. In New York’s Stambovsky v. Ackley Supreme Court case, the law requires a home seller to tell the buyer if the property is believed to be haunted by ghosts. The story about ghosts haunting some houses has been making its rounds, and this legal requirement just confirmed it. If you don’t disclose your doubts, then you could end up on the losing side of a supreme court case.
Janet Arklis CEO
4. The windowless skyscraper is real. If you have not imagined a building without windows; there is one, a 29 story AT&T building on Thomas Street in Manhattan built of concrete walls without windows. The hearsay and gossips about the building are warranted because it actually exists and is standing tall in New York! The building is a telephone exchange/wire center which contains switches for long distance calling.
5. It’s has a bad but excellent property tax system. New York property tax has created differential land value in communities where the land is in the same location. The tax system can make the value of one property worth far worth than the value of its neighboring properties. There are four classes of real estate parcels categorized from Tax Class 1 to 4, where each tax class specifies a different way to tax the owner. For example, if you own a waterfront property as opposed to the property across the street that is not on the water, expect to pay more property taxes.
New York City realty is one of the most vibrant in the world. You will find many unbelievable things happening. The closer you get to how the real estate system works here in New York, the more you will fall in love with it. The bottom line is, the messier it seems, the more interesting it gets. Play your part as a realtor, close some deals, and enjoy the fun!