Dear Readers,
If you could describe the NYC real estate market for buyers now in one word, I would say FRUSTRATING would be at the top of the list (at least the number one choice I would be willing to repeat in this family friendly blog). And I don't mean the anticipatory kind of "Gee I can't wait until Christmas" sort of excitement, more like, "Im going to be stuck in my current apartment forever" kind of frustration.
But you are not really stuck Grasshopper. You are not.
See-- it seems to me that what is missing here, is the part of the dialog that goes " I could be in my current situation forever if I continue to do the same thing I have been doing all along and therefore getting the same result" and just so I am not being too obscure, by "the same thing" I mean desiring or even bidding on places you want in the same exact area, using the same strategy, over and over, and losing them again and again and again. Now that is frustrating. And exhausting for you. And pointless.
The good news is that frustration can work in your favor if it has become so accute that you are finally sick of it. Frustration can inspire three really helpful courses of action: 1. Decisive choices 2. Deep creativity, 3. Willingness to change your plans if that is necessary to achieve your larger goals.
I will give some examples from customers who got what they wanted:
1) An investor on the West Coast wanted to buy in Manhattan and wanted 2 bedrooms. He was on a deadline and needed to purchase immediately. Now-as an investor he was mostly concerned with making money which can make buying decisions a fair bit easier. He had, though, really gotten his heart set on buying a condo in Manhattan. I get it. It fed his personal success fantasy.
We tried to make that work-looking at condos all over. It was excruciating. What he wanted was just not within his (ample) budget. We did the numbers together and it became obvious that he would make more in rental income in Bklyn. He finally agreed and suddenly the experience was much more pleasant for both of us. He liked all the choices more- and I was better able to help him plan to make money.
2) I worked with a nice young couple, first time buyers living in Queens, for nearly a year. We looked at all the blue chip neighborhoods in Brooklyn, nothing they liked was affordable for them.
They wanted 2 beds and everything we saw that they could afford was sub par (I agreed). They are now about to be in contract on a very large new construction one bedroom (with ample extra space in case they want to create a second bedroom in the future) on 148th street on the west side of Manhattan. They are delighted. And now that they have been to the area several times, they feel it will be a better fit for them than the neighborhoods we had originally seen in Brooklyn. They are both professional chefs and like the culinary diversity uptown much more.
3) Some charming buyers just got keys to a place in Sunset Park. They started out looking in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens but shortly found this lovely enormous space just a mile South. Right near transportation. Growing neighborhood. 3 beds instead of 2. Large storage area- lovely common back yard. All in a very special building that is beautifully maintained with neighbors who feel a sense of community, are proud of their investment, and looking to see it grow.
In all three of these examples everyone is very happy but not at all in the place they imagined.
Now ask yourself: why suffer the pain of frustration when there are so many suitable solutions out there--that might just be a little different than what you had originally thought? There are also new strategies for bidding on places in blue chip neighborhoods if that is really where you feel your bread is buttered. The only thing that really isn't working now is the same old thing. The market is just too challenging for that now- it requires a more wily buyer.
Frustration is bad when it leads to stagnation and can make you want to quit or burn out, but when it opens up fresh opportunities and free thinking it can take you to places you want to be-maybe better than what you had imagined at the start!
All the best,
Alexandra Florio
The Corcoran Group
646-269-1072
