February 8, 2016

MAPS: Where to Find the Best Studio Bargains in NYC Right Now

Let's face it, if you're the average New Yorker and aren't shacked up or down with having a roommate, a studio is probably where you're heading. According to data from CityRealty, the median price for available studio condominiums in Manhattan and northern Brooklyn stands at $782,000. While there are a paltry number of these apartments available, roughly 200, these pint-sized units allow many first-time condo buyers and those with smaller budgets to enter the condo market. For neighborhoods with more than two studio condo units on the market, Washington Heights has the cheapest median average, coming in at just $633 per square foot, less than half the city's median of $1,389 per square foot. Soho, on the other hand, with its 18 availabilities, has the city's most expensive studios with a median price per square foot of $2,025. Keep in mind, however, that many downtown studios are "studios" in name only. For instance, the most expensive such unit in the city right now is a $6.75 million penthouse loft at 37 Greene Street, encompassing 3,200 square feet of raw space and a 2,400-square-foot rooftop terrace--likely not what that minimalist, low carbon footprint-seeking buyer has in mind. So, below is a list of the five best individual studio deals on the market right now, and a map showing the studios priced farthest below their neighborhood median averages.
See it all here
December 21, 2015

MAPS: Where to Find the Top Available One-Bedroom Rental Bargains Under $2,500

Can't seem to qualify for those popular affordable housing lotteries, or stuck on a waiting list 70,000 names long? Well, like many of us who are searching for low-priced rentals, you'll have to forage the city's daunting open market. The typical choices include shacking up with multiple roommates in prime neighborhoods, enduring long commutes in far-flung locales, or having to deal with an un-renovated, pre-war walk-up building. To make your search for these rather un-glamorous apartments a bit easier, we produced a list and map of currently available one-bedroom rentals that are priced furthest below their neighborhood medians. But act fast, because these units disappear quickly.
Check out the interactive maps and listings this way
December 11, 2015

MAPS: Where to Find the Five Best Condo Bargains in Every NYC Neighborhood

With so much focus given to top-of-the-market condo sales and listings, we decided to take a look at the condos at the more "affordable" end of the spectrum, highlighting available apartments priced furthest below their neighborhood median prices. This week we take a look at five listings in five neighborhoods: Chelsea, Park-Fifth Avenue between 50th and 79th streets, Fort Greene, and Murray Hill. But first, be sure to check out 6sqft's interactive maps which pinpoint five of the best available condo bargains in every Manhattan and northern Brooklyn neighborhood compared with their median prices.
Check it all out
November 18, 2015

Compare Dubai’s Most Expensive Penthouse to New York City’s

Playing the real estate comparison game is always fun, and more often than not, pinning New York prices against any other city will bring you to much bigger and more luxurious spaces. But here's a real estate showdown that might lead you to shrug off that usual urge to say "But it's not New York!" when you try to justify the city's outrageous prices. Word has it that Dubai's most expensive penthouse is now up on the market for a whopping $74.5 million. The sprawling pad (really a compound-like construction) comes with over 43,000 square feet and is steeped in private amenities. Now compare this to NYC's current title-holder for most expensive home—the $100 million penthouse at One57—and you've got a real estate death match in a league of its own.
Check it out here
June 29, 2015

The High and Low: A House at the Top

Though townhouses, row houses, and wooden houses exist in NYC in lower density areas like Brooklyn and Queens, in Manhattan, there’s often nowhere to build but up. It follows that those who enjoy the conveniences of modern condos sacrifice the feel of a free-standing house, and vice-versa. Penthouse living provides a rare exception; if you’re the top dog, you can basically build what you want, and the highest surface becomes your backyard and front porch. Penthouse bulkheads take a variety of shapes, with the most elaborate ones resembling nothing so much as a modernist masterpiece hovering above it all. In a few notable cases, this allowance is taken more literally than usual. The handful of log cabins, wood houses and such are curiosities atop the city’s tall buildings. The pair of lofty dwellings below exemplifies this good fortune. The first, a glass-walled rectangle above one of Tribeca’s most coveted converted industrial buildings removes the need for a Palm Springs retreat, though the $22.5 million price tag is definitely New York City-sized. The second, at $4.45 million, is more average-penthouse-priced, but the East Village home is definitely unique–its top floor resembles a country cottage.
See more of these have-it-all rooftop pads this way…
June 22, 2015

The High and Low: Architecturally Distinct Modern Townhouse in Brownstone Brooklyn

Townhouses are having a moment. Manhattan’s most lavish single-family homes are top-ticket trophies for the superwealthy. And families who've outgrown their apartments, investors banking on rising rents, and a celebrity or two, are snapping up brownstones on leafy Brooklyn blocks. But a handful of more adventurous buyers -- seeking space and privacy and possessed of some architectural vision -- chose the less-traveled road of creating modern-design homes on the decidedly un-trendy historic blocks of brownstone Brooklyn many decades ago. On the market now is the rare pair below. The first, more of a compound than merely a house, has a creative pedigree and architectural icon status (and a $13 million price tag). This combination of a 1892 school building and the townhouse next door sits among the impressively ornate 19th-century mansions of Fort Greene and boasts an un-missable modern extension and peerless minimalist interior, not to mention sheer size. The second is a more modest home–for a relatively more modest $3.5 million–but is also a unique modern dwelling with a laid-back and livable interior on a coveted tree-lined block of historic Brooklyn Heights.
See more of these unique modern homes this way
June 1, 2015

The High and Low: Waterfront Living on Beekman Place

While neighborhoods may seem to become hot-or-not at the drop of a hat, waterfront property retains its mystique through the ages. Open river and bridge views are a rare and covetable amenity that can’t be brought in with high-end consultants or approximated by joining a gym on the next block. These two homes on Beekman Place, an East Side enclave of pre-war apartment buildings and stately townhouses that has long been considered the essence of understated Manhattan elegance, form part of an enviable row of buildings along the East River possessed of waterfront living on one side and Manhattan excitement on the other. The tree-shaded block-long street near the United Nations and Peter Detmold Park, minutes from bustling Midtown, is often overlooked, yet no less magical should you find yourself on it–the New York Times recently called it, "about as far off the beaten path as one can get in Manhattan." On the market now are a $13 million duplex, complete with a raised deck that elevates the view to peerless, and a 12th-floor gem on the same short street asking a more palatable $1.5 million, also with panoramic river views and a smaller, but no less lovable deck from which to watch the ships pass in the night–or day.
Get an eyeful of these waterfront vistas this way
May 19, 2015

The High and Low: Sweet Bohemian Cottage with Dreamy Private Garden

Spring has finally arrived, and our spring fever has been replaced by a yearning to dine al fresco, savor morning coffee in the sunshine and—for the gardening-inclined—start hitting the dirt. For lucky city folk with private garden space, there's a just-right element: You get to enjoy the flowers but you don't have to mow the grass. These new-to-market charmers have all the boxes checked when it comes to the European-style cottage vibe with whitewashed walls and loads of DIY potential. They've also got enchanted gardens you won't want to step out of 'til the snow starts falling. The first, in south Park Slope, a block from the park, is a three-story townhouse with income potential and plenty of vintage details, listed for $1,800,000. The second, a two-bedroom garden duplex co-op in Clinton Hill for $895k, is as adorable as it is unusual inside and out, and the garden looks to be pure magic.
Read on for these two springtime finds
May 4, 2015

The High and Low: Two Pretty Prewar Co-ops on Prospect Park

Just north and west of Grand Army Plaza and the green expanse of Prospect Park, the heavenly slice of brownstone Brooklyn where Prospect Heights  meets Park Slope is considered one of the best spots in the borough–possibly the city–to live. Its streets offer some of the area's loveliest historic townhouses and some of Brooklyn's most gracious prewar apartment buildings, home to notables from Sen. Charles Schumer to Chloë Sevigny. Near an alphabet soup of subway lines and every amenity you could imagine–from the Brooklyn Museum to Barclays Center–these two classic prewar co-ops claim this prime location, sought-after full-service buildings and pretty Deco-era bones. The first also offers the spacious layout sought by co-op buyers, and at $1.4 million for a large three-bedroom, there's plenty of room to roam. And though a diminutive studio is best for one (or two who like to be very close) this particular version, asking a double-take-prompting $350k, is on a high floor in one of the area's loveliest buildings and has the same look–minus a few hundred square feet–as its more spacious sibling.
Take a side-by-side look
April 27, 2015

The High and Low: Two Classic Central Park West Co-ops in the Celeb-Filled El Dorado

Inspired by all the talk of Demi Moore listing her San Remo penthouse for a potentially record-breaking $75 million, we found some even more fabulously grand Central Park West, Emery-Roth-designed, graciously pre-war detailed listings at the San Remo’s equally fabulous and celebrity-favored cousin, the El Dorado at 300 Central Park West. The "high" listing is exactly that: Not only a penthouse, but a rare offering that spans two floors of one of the iconic building's skyline-defining twin towers. And of course there's the view from your double-decker tower perch, which is the one that really counts. But before you lunge for your wallet (or if you're thinking you don't really need the square footage of a small walled city), the “low” listing is in the same famous and fabulous iconic building, and it’s even on a high floor. While it’s technically a one-bedroom, it has that classic pre-war co-op's gracious layout. And it’s asking $1.4 million, which, a few caveats aside, sounds astonishingly reasonable. And you still get to be neighbors with Meredith Viera and the lingering spirit of Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Moby, Bono and many more past residents.
The El Dorado for $29 million and $1.4 million, this way...
April 13, 2015

How Much More Do Penthouse Buyers Pay Compared to Their Neighbors Directly Below?

So maybe you don't get the coveted "PH" in your address, but you will save tens of millions of dollars by "slumming it" on the floor just below. The data gurus over at CityRealty analyzed the top penthouse sales recorded in 2014 and found that high-rise top floor buyers on average shell out 11 percent more per square foot for their pads than their counterparts just below. Looking at the average selling price, this rings in at a whopping 75 percent more. Is the PH premium worth it? Let us know what you think in the comments.
check out the full infographic here
April 1, 2015

The High and Low: Two ‘Mad’ Pads Offer Modernist Details, Timeless Appeal

In honor of the final season of "Mad Men," we've found a pair of current listings with the modern appeal of the Draper apartment at (fictional) 783 Park Avenue. Accents that might come straight from the pages of a mid-century magazine—like a sunken living room, wood paneling and a Nelson hanging light–or 21st century perks like open kitchens, floor-to-ceiling windows, balconies and city views add up to just as much modern cool as they did in the "Mad Men" era. $2.8 million gets you a serious mid-century pedigree, an enclosed balcony and a prime Greenwich Village location, but for $925,000, a top-floor Upper East Side pre-war pad with a recent renovation, city views and a compellingly modernist vibe looks like a serious deal.
Check out these two 'Mad Men'-worthy pads here
March 19, 2015

The High and Low: Two Cozy Brooklyn Heights Duplexes Battle It Out

This freshly-listed, charming bi-level bolt-hole in prime Brooklyn Heights at 108 Pierrepont Street may be petite, but it's tucked into the same elegant neighborhood as the house-like duplex at 115 Willow Street, also new to the market, that's going for $2.35 million. Also in a beautiful, well-kept historic prewar building, with the same access to the Promenade, park and neighborhood highlights, the former rings in at a far-lower $575,000.
Compare and contrast these Brooklyn Heights duplexes with very different prices
March 9, 2015

The High and Low: Two Picture-Perfect Bow-Front Townhouses Go Head-to-Head

A classic bow-fronted Prospect Heights townhouse (above, right) offers many of the things we love about this star-studded $17 million West Village home (above, left)–for a lot less. The big-ticket Manhattan beauty set records and made movies. But for $3.5 million, a new-to-market gem in one of Brooklyn's most coveted neighborhoods is just as charming, and even offers some perks the Manhattan home lacks.
Compare these four-story homes with very different prices
March 6, 2015

What $4 Million Bought This Week in NYC

We've all come across real estate listings or recent sales that have us thinking either "Oh! I could live there!" or "What were they thinking?" Well we're going to make it a little easier for you to cast your judgements on the decisions of the rich—and sometimes famous—by rounding up some of the week's most interesting sales for you to compare and contrast. From a Greenwich Village pad purchased by a prolific '90s sitcom director to a classic Upper East Side co-op with crown moulding, this week we'll take a look at what $4 million bought in Manhattan.
See them all here

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