There are pros and cons to both buying a new condo and a resale condo in NYC. In this video, Elliot Bogod, a real estate author, educator and blogger, and Founder and Managing Director of Broadway Realty weighs in on what you need to know before making your decision.

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SPEAKERS

Elliot Bogod, Michael Levitis

Michael Levitis 13:10
Welcome back, everybody. It’s Michael Levitis with Alpha Insider, we are bring a different experts in different fields. As you know we work with a lot of real estate brokers in different areas. Elliot Bogot is here with us today. He is a broker, founder of Broadway Realty and his specialty, his expertise – he lives and breathes sales and rentals in Manhattan, New York. Eliot, welcome back.

Elliot Bogod 13:40
Hi Michael, hi dear listeners and viewers. Happy to be with you.

Michael Levitis 13:43
Thank you. Elliot, not only do I really admire you and value you as our guru for Manhattan real estate, because of your experience, you’ve been doing real estate in Manhattan for years, over 20 years. Sorry for giving away your age. But you’re also a best selling author, and author of a book on real estate called appropriately “Get Rich in Real Estate”. You know, I always love it when people write books, that means that they have something to say, that they were chosen and approved by the stores that sell you, like Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, you can even find you on iTunes. That means you are somebody, you can actually have the right. You have earned the right to educate people on real estate. Today we’re going to educate people on buying new condos in Manhattan as opposed to resales, it’s a big decision. There are various price points, pros and cons, buying new versus pre existing. Let’s talk about that. Elliot, what are the advantages of buying new developments, new condo developments in Manhattan? Thank you, Michael, great introduction for myself and for the book. It’s made international bestseller on Amazon and it’s available on Barnes and Noble, as you said, as well as you can hear it in iTunes, Apple iTunes has it, and if people like to recording, it’s also there. So feel free to grab it. I have a copy that was gifted to me personally by you, so I appreciate it.

Elliot Bogod 15:43
Sure. I’m glad you have it and we’ll look at it as well. So what a great question, by the way, about Manhattan condos. Why is it a brand new condos worth looking at and buying as a alternative to pre war, post war, condominiums and coops as well. So now as you know, developers are building brand new condos, there is some about two-three developments that offer temporary, the 421a tax abatement, which is significant savings for the taxpayers. So real estate taxes is part of owning a condo, you’re paying as expensive buying common charges, and you’re paying your real estate taxes. There is only those two expenses and maybe a mortgage.

Michael Levitis 16:48
Let’s explain to our viewers, tax abatement is where the city has a special program, where the first 15 years, sometimes it’s less, you have a much lower taxes, because you’re getting new construction, then gradually they go up, right?

Elliot Bogod 17:05

That’s correct, and sometimes it’s up to 20 years of abatement and you enjoy that 20 years of savings, significant savings. So those couple of projects are there in Manhattan, and we specialize in them and you can still get a great deal. You will enjoy those savings in Manhattan, and to start to buy in the condo all you need is as a small deposit, sometimes it 10-15% of the deposits to start in a new development, and then you have to qualify for a mortgage. Or you can if you can do without mortgage if you can buy it all cash. So this is what Manhattan offers and new buildings are being built and announced all the time and new areas, new blocks. So we always help our clients, we are consultants, we help them to choose the right purchase and what’s right for them.

Michael Levitis 18:19
In your opinion, what you see though, new developments are a bit pricier than pre-existing or resales. Why should one consider paying more when you buying brand new construction?

Elliot Bogod 18:38
So it’s a great question, Michael. So for example, many people like new developments because of the amenities they have to offer. They have a new windows, floors, doors, rang appliances.

Michael Levitis 18:58
Their windows are usually a lot of times they are floor to ceiling which makes a great view of Manhattan skyline.

Elliot Bogod 19:08
Correct So they tend to be bigger windows and the view is a big part of the Manhattan living as you know, people are looking for views so the views are important. The other thing is you’re save certain amount of money during that 20 years. Real estate taxes on one bedroom set can be as high as 300,000 dollars worth of real estate taxes, you saving on a two bedrooms can be as high as 600,000 and on three bedrooms it’s up to a million dollars worth of real estate taxes saved, so they tend to be priced higher, but people look at it as they buying in a new building, new neighborhoods. They like the opportunity to save.

Michael Levitis 20:10
Nothing compares that smell of walking into a brand new building, a new apartment, there’s something to it. It’s like a new car smell, right?

Elliot Bogod 20:21
Correct. Yes, people love to have a brand new apartment never lived in. I have some clients who just buy only new buildings, and they move from one building to another and they like this kind of living for 20-30 years, I have clients who saw 2, 3, 4 times. They always in the new buildings.

Michael Levitis 20:54
But what do you say to people who say: look, I want to find an old apartments that maybe 30-40 years old or older, I want to got renovated, and then I’m going to have a brand new apartment

according to my specifications, and possibly save money. What do you think are the opportunities and what are the cons of that?

Elliot Bogod 21:23
That’s another great strategy and another great question about aging value to something that is beautiful, not brand new. But you can see something that is worth your time, money. Some people are creative. We have a lot of people in New York who like to add value to properties, and to do it in construction. So this is a great subject by itself. So you can take a pre-war apartment, which is has high ceilings, large windows, and then the beautiful building that’s offering a lot of services. You can renovate, definitely, and we have clients who are always searching for such a great investment in one of those buildings.

Michael Levitis 22:21
Thank you for your answer, because it’s very important to know both sides of the coin and to give you an opportunity to know what’s out there. We’ll definitely come back to this question, because I want to have a session on what are some of the new developments that you represent, that you recommend for clients and we can go through them one by one, and talk about where they are and what are the price points. Same for renovation, we can come up with some buildings, when we think it’s worthwhile to buy, in what neighborhoods and just give people an idea of what’s out there, right? Because we’re here to educate and educate is what we do. Elliot, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge not only in the book, but here on this podcast. Please follow us for more sessions, more Q and A’s with Elliot Bogod from Broadway Realty. You will be our expert on buying selling or renting apartments in Manhattan. Thank you. Until next time. Take care.