nyc homes | Kevin Brunnock | NYC Real Estate Professional

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December 8, 2020

Tips for New York Home Appraisal

If you are looking to buy a new home or just refinance your current mortgage, your lender will want to schedule an appraisal. This objective assessment helps to determine what your home is worth. Something that ranks high to all lenders is the consideration of collateral on their loan. Whether you are buying or selling, it will help you get a feel for how appraisals work. Here’s how you can prepare for your NYC home appraisal.

What’s Involved?

So what should you expect if you have someone come to your home to appraise it? An appraiser’s job is very similar to a home inspector’s position, with some tiny differences. Items that range from big to small will be taken into account by your appraiser, so that geometric mural that you did during the lockdown may need to go.

Things That Go Into a Home Appraisal

While your potential buyer may love your place and decide that they are ok with your asking price, all lenders will require you to have your home appraised to determine its value. To help them arrive at an estimate, they will look at the following:

Your home’s exterior: The appraiser will look at just about every part of the construction of your home. From the roof to the foundation, walls, and flooring, these will all be the potential cause for the house’s value to decrease if the appraiser finds something wrong.
Size: A big part of determining the home’s value is the slot’s size and square foot of the lot. The more rooms and bathrooms that a house has can help to raise the value of the home. Knowing the floor area or FAR of the property will tell you if space has room for extensions, which can be another factor in the value.
Condition: Just like your exterior, the appraiser will go over the inside of your home with a fine-tooth comb. The flooring, kitchen, plumbing, electrical, and lighting are all components that your appraiser will be assessing.
Improvements: Your appraiser can also help you determine what might need to be updated to increase your home’s value. Renovating a bathroom or adding an HVAC system can add years of life to the property, which helps increase the value.

Who Receives the Appraisal Information?

The final verdict will be gathered by your appraiser and at the disposal of who ordered it; this is usually the lender. It is then up to them how the information is distributed, regardless of who paid for it. If the buyer asks for an appraisal, the lender is obligated by law to release that information. Your appraisal is valid for six months, but market prices can change quickly. Many lenders will only consider an appraisal to be valid for about three months. Any changes to the market or the property can drastically alter the value price.

May 14, 2020

Making the Most of a NYC Studio Apartment

New York City is known for a lot of things, one of them being its real estate. While many people dream of someday living in a spacious New York City apartment, a lot of those living in a city are confined to small one-bedroom or studio apartments. It can feel a bit cramped, but with these tips, you can make the most of your NYC studio apartment.

Clever Storage

The best way to ruin the layout of a tiny apartment is by having all your belongings out in the open. To give the apartment a clean and open appearance, find ways to store your belongings away. Every piece of furniture is a storage opportunity such as a bedside bureau, a side table with shelves or a drawer, or a lidded ottoman.

The Mirror Trick

Making tiny apartments feel bigger can be tough, but there is a super easy trick you can try. Especially is your space is lacking natural light, decorate your apartment with mirrors. Setting up a mirror helps bounce light around, creates depth, and makes the room look bigger than it really is.

A Stylish Dresser

To add style and sophistication to your small space, invest in a good dresser. In a studio, the dresser can be utilized in many different ways. The top of the dresser can be used as a dressing table, a makeshift kitchen table, of a place to add some decoration. A dresser can easily become the focal part of your studio, so make it count!

Furniture to the Wall

Another great way to keep the space open is by keeping furniture against the wall. Furniture in a small space can easily block out the natural light and make it appear to be even smaller. Pieces such as couches, dressers, bookshelves, nightstands, and other pieces should also be kept partially open to create expansiveness in your studio by leaving room for white space.

April 10, 2019

Tips for Millennials When Saving for a Home in NYC

The cost of housing may be going up, but millennials could account for 43 percent of property buyers in the United States over the next several months. If you are a part of this demographic and you plan to buy a home in New York City soon, here are some tips that will help you save for your big purchase.

Keep an Open Mind

New York is one of the most expensive places to live, so you might not have as many options as you think you do. Instead of accepting nothing less than a posh Manhattan apartment, be prepared to look at other places that might be more affordable. It’s a great way to keep your options open, even if you ultimately don’t end up where you originally planned to live.

Consult a Mortgage Expert

Before you start shopping around for homes, speak to a mortgage expert to determine what you can afford for a down payment and your future mortgage payments. That will give you a better idea of what you should be looking for.

Stay in One Place or Downsize

Since it costs so much to live in even a small New York apartment, you might need to spend a couple of years saving money. To make this easier, either remain in the home you are in now or downsize. If you won’t have to spend the extra money you make on living expenses, you can set that aside for the kind of home you really want.

Be Patient

Even though we did say that you should keep an open mind and be prepared to look at homes outside of where you originally planned to live, there’s nothing wrong with being patient and waiting for something you love to open up. Buying a home is a long process, especially when you want to live in a place as expensive as New York City. It will take time to save up enough money and be approved for a loan anyway. You can wait a little bit longer for the perfect home to become available.

Kevin Brunnock best neighborhoods to raise a family nyc

January 30, 2019

Top 5 Neighborhoods to Raise a Family in NYC

New York City is one of the best locations for raising a family. NYC is diverse, exciting, and full of unique activities for both you and your kids.The city is composed of a wide selection of neighborhoods, including the family-friendly options listed below.

Astoria, Queens

Astoria is one of many great options! The neighborhood offers some of the best schools in the city that are both progressive and affordable. You’ll have access to a wide variety of public parks and playgrounds, as well as a great library system. One of the other great perks of living in Astoria is the Astoria Park, which includes a public pool.

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

Bay Ridge is a historical neighborhood that’s a cornerstone of Brooklyn. The area is family friendly, and inclusive of people of all ages and cultures. Renting or purchasing property in Bay Ridge is almost half the cost of renting or buying property in the rest of the borough. The neighborhood also includes great schools, and plenty of parks so your children can play in green spaces.

Harlem

One of the best advantages of living in Harlem is larger apartment options for inexpensive prices. Not only does the area offer an easy downtown commute for parents, but it offers plenty of activities for children. The nearby Riverbank State Park hosts classes in art, music, sports, and dance. The Apollo Theater and the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling are two other great kid-friendly entertainment options.

Upper West Side, Manhattan

The Upper West Side is home to some of the best schools in the city, and is conveniently located near Central Park so your children will have plenty of room to roam! They’ll also have access to some of the best museums in the world, such as the American Museum of Natural History. The Riverside Park is another attraction that includes playgrounds and historical monuments.

Battery Park City

Located near the financial district, Battery Park City is a sleek yet bustling community and the location of two of NYC’s best schools, PS 276 and Stuyvesant High School. The Battery Park Esplanade, a beautiful road along the river, is a great place to take your kids for a walk or bike ride. There are also a variety of parks, many of which are also dog-friendly, and baseball fields.

Any of these neighborhoods is a great option for you and your family. New York City is one of the most unique and famous cities in the world. Your children will be lucky to grow up there!

January 14, 2017

Changes We Can Expect See In New York City’s Housing Market In 2017

New York City’s luxury real estate market cooled down in 2016. The number of high-end sales went down 18 percent, according to realtors Olshan Realty Inc. This general trend was predicted by a site called StreetEasy, which predicts New York City’s real estate market trends every year. If they were able to get that right, there’s a good chance we should be trusting their prediction for 2017. Here are a few things we can expect to see happen to the New York City housing market according to StreetEasy:

Manhattan’s Sales Market Will Experience Slow Growth

Out of the five boroughs, Manhattan is expected to have slowest sales market growth. Over the past few years, high demand and high-priced inventory lead to high resale prices in Manhattan. However, the market is now being dragged down by these luxuries. In November 2015, Manhattan’s luxury tier became the first segment of the market to see price declines and the trend has continued since. This trend will most likely spread to all segments of the market. 2017 is expected to be one of the slowest years for price growth for Manhattan sales in years.

2) Neighborhoods Will Change Due To Transportation Changes

The real estate conversation in 2017 will be largely affected by public transportation. There will be a number of major public transportation changes in New York City in the near future, including the opening of the Second Avenue Subway, the L-train shutdown, the M-train repairs and the 7-train extension to Hudson Yards. According to research, rent and sales prices increase when a home is close to convenient transportation.

3) People Will Turn To Homeownership

In 2017, we can expect rent to increase across all five boroughs. Rent is likely to far outpace income growth. This past November, Queens rents increased 4.1 percent year-over-year, outpacing both Brooklyn and Manhattan. Over the next year, Queens rents are expected to continue increasing by 2.4 percent, while Manhattan rents are expected to increase by 2 percent and Brooklyn rents by 1 percent. As sales price growth slows and rents increase, many renters who have saved for down payments will become homeowners in 2017. If we look at the tipping point, or the point in time at which the costs of buying will be less than renting, we see evidence of the shift to home buying occurring in the near future. According to StreetEasy, more than 80 percent of all New York City neighborhoods that have recorded tipping points, have tipping points of less than five years as of November 2016.

4) Hottest Neighborhood Will Be Kingsbridge; The Rest Will Be In Brooklyn

Each year, StreetEasy comes out with a list of the city’s hottest neighborhoods, showing where New York apartment shoppers are expected to look in the coming year. At the top of the 2017 list is Kingsbridge in the Bronx. Six of the ten spots are occupied by Brooklyn neighborhoods. How present were Manhattan and Queens? The only two neighborhoods from these boroughs that make the cut for 2017 are Yorkville in Manhattan, and Astoria and Bayside in Queens.

Overall, we can expect a lot of changes in New York City’s real estate market in 2017. It will be exciting to see whether these predictions come true.

November 1, 2016

5 Historic Houses Converted into Museums in NYC

Historic homes that have become famous museums has been a prime use of real estate over many years. They have preserved our history and culture so are of tremendous value. There are many such places in New York City, and here are just a few examples that you would enjoy viewing and exploring.

Morris-Jumel Mansion

Constructed in 1765 by a British loyalist, Roger Morris, it was known as Mount Morris. Amazingly, in the Revolutionary War, George Washington as well as Hessian and British forces were occupants in the house. Washington returned on July 10, 1790, and dined there along with Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and others. The mansion and grounds were later purchased by Stephen and Eliza Jumel, by the City in 1903. In 1904 it was opened to the public as a museum.

Van Cortland House Museum

Located on the edge of the Van Cortland Park in what was then Yonkers, the Georgian fieldstone house was constructed in 1748. It is now the oldest building in the Bronx. This house is another used by George Washington during the Revolutionary War and was also used by the Marquis de Lafayette, Rochambeau. The house was converted into a museum in 1896 by the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York and has been open to the public ever since that time.

Mount Vernon Hotel Museum

Constructed as a carriage house in 1799, in 1826, it was converted into a hotel. The Colonial Dames of America bought the building in 1924 and converted it into a museum, which was known until 2000 as the Abigail Adams Smith Museum. The name was changed as President John Adams’ daughter, Abigail, had no connection with the structure.

Edgar Allan Poe Cottage

Built in 1812 in the then village of Fordham, it was typical of the area’s working-class homes. After Poe‘s death, the house where he had written a number of his works was sold. The New York Shakespeare Society saved the home from destruction in 1913 by raising funds to move it across the street. It is a part of the Historic House Trust

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site

This is the only presidential birthplace opened to the public in New York City. Roosevelt was born on this site in 1858, and the house was demolished in 1916 to become a retail building. However, within weeks of his 1919 death, the Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association bought the lot and the adjoining one and reconstructed the home to look like what had been the interior design in the years of 1865-1872. In 1963, it was donated to the National Park Service.

Many historic homes and their real estate that became museums give us a unique look into other time periods and make us happy to be able to admire the delightfully preserved establishments, which still exists.