Jackson Heights Life

Thanks Matt for the information

In terms of recent sale data, the best resource is the department of finance http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/rolling_sales_data.shtml where you can download all of the sales data for from 2003-2012. I believe that  is where Daniel Karatzas obtained the data to work on his report (http://www.jhrealestatereport.com/). For any one who wants to buy coop in jackson heights, he needs to seriously read Daniel Karatzas' report (He just released this morning for Q4 2012). If you want to play the data like me, downloading all of the data from the department of finance and extract the data in your area to study them, that's where I found the price trend in my first post.

For an average person,  the acris mentioned by Matt http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/Coverpage.dll/index is the best place to go or read Daniel Karatzas's report.

redfin is a little bit useless for price comp as a lot of apartments in jackson heights are exclusives and are not even advertised there because the local realtors don't want co-brokering. I heard stories that only difficult sell apartments will be advertised at
redfin or mlsli.

All of the these info can not help myself as  there are very few apartments in that building with that size, so the sale history is almost nonexistent. Using the relative price premium of adding one bathroom or half bathroom compared to a junior 4 from the same building at nearby location is the only way to guess the price of the apartment I am interested in.

Hi Armen

I admire your efforts to make fancy pages on the web site at www.jacksonheightslistings.com. Somehow, the trick of misleading information or stretching the facts too much turns me away immediately. For example, you have listed the apartment 35-36 76th Street, #323 as a two bedroom apartment.  Anybody looking at the floor can only consider it as "ONE" bedroom apartment. The dinning area can not be considered a separate bedroom (the flex room is such a fancy word). Even for a junior 4 in most jackson heights coop buildings, the dinning room that can be also served as a bedroom has its own walls and its closet and the kitchen has its own window.

The floor plan is attached here so other people may examine it. I am hoping the reply does not get eliminated and you may revise your list to make my claim sounds unfounded and this is the last post I will comment on you web listing.

It's actually a fairly common practice to advertise a converted one bedroom as a flex2 bedroom, or 2 bedroom apartment.

And in this instance it actually looks like the conversion of the dining area in to a separate "room" was very well done.

While I'm sure that the sellers are asking a premium on this, it's not like they're trying to charge $400K + for it calling a "true 2BR."

The word "flex" is something you'll see often. I particularly used this idea a lot in Manhattan when I had college roommates who couldn't afford a true 2br.
They would take a 1br, put a wall in the living room and turn it into a 2br.

And I think the intention is similar here. I know of a lot of families in JH that use this layout with the dining "room" as a baby room. It's a great option for people who may want some of the benefits of a 2br (separate room, some added privacy for guests, baby room) but can't afford a true 2br.

Does that make sense?

I too have often seen clients feel like this was misrepresentation, and I can certainly understand how it comes across that way. But by listing it as a 2br, it opens up options that some people might not have initially considered if it was listed as a straight 1br.  

In terms of recent sale data, the best resource is the department of finance http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/rolling_sales_data.shtml where you can download all of the sales data for from 2003-2012. I believe that  is where Daniel Karatzas obtained the data to work on his report (http://www.jhrealestatereport.com/). For any one who wants to buy coop in jackson heights, he needs to seriously read Daniel Karatzas' report (He just released this morning for Q4 2012).

Hi jh_coop_buyer,

With coops I'm not sure how useful the city sales data you mentioned would be for most as it does not list the apartment size, number of rooms, or maintenance. It's pretty dense. I think a report like the one from REBNY would be helpful for most as it takes this information from the city and presents it in an easily understandable way. As I mentioned, Acris is helpful when looking into a specific building.

The Karatzas report may be helpful as well, but I have not seen it and I'm hesitant to sign up for the newsletter as I get too many emails as it is. Could you possibly post the latest report that you referenced here? It would be interesting to see if it varies much from REBNY's reports.

redfin is a little bit useless for price comp as a lot of apartments in jackson heights are exclusives and are not even advertised there because the local realtors don't want co-brokering. I heard stories that only difficult sell apartments will be advertised at redfin or mlsli.

I wouldn't rule out sites like Redfin in helping you in your search. I recently refinanced my apartment and the initial appraisal done by the company chosen by my lender came in extremely low. I was able to come up with some comparables that the appraiser had missed through Redfin and other sites. The end result was that after taking into consideration the additional information I provided, they increased the appraisal by 5%. Sites like Redfin provide much of the information that is missing from Acris or the rolling sales data from the NYC Dept. of Finance that you mentioned. The apartment size, number of rooms, maintenance, and often photos are usually listed.

I agree with you that many of the local real estate brokerages do not post on MLS for whatever reason, however from my casual observation over the past 5 years I've noticed more listings in the neighborhood by some of the bigger real estate companies in the city such as Douglas Elliman, Corcoran, Brown Harris Stevens, and Citi Habitats. As far as I know, they do post on MLS and are willing to work with a buyer's broker. The way things have been done in the past in the neighborhood appear to be changing.

Hi Matt,

I don't think I can post Daniel Karatzas's report unless I can first obtain his permission or he can post it by himself.  Daniel Karatzas is a well regarded local realtor as other people (for example, Shelby2 just confirmed) in this forum have said. He only emails me once in three month for his real estate report and never emails me anything else.

The floor plans of many of the well known buildings in Jackson Heights can be found at the Columbia real estate brochure
http://nyre.cul.columbia.edu/neighborhoods/view/QN28
In this way, you will precisely know the layout of almost all apartments of the building. As I said, combining rolling sales data and the building floor plan is not for an average joe, that is where Daniel Karatzas's report can help you.

I will check out the RENBY later.

Regarding redfin or mlsli or other big companies, you have exactly restated what I said: their price are over inflated and these apartments are difficult sells.

Reply to Armen's comments, the junior 4 (larger than your stated flex 2 or whatever) can be found in Jackson Heights for around 250K even at redfin, mlsli or streeteasy or NYT times.  Some shady brokers in craigslist can even stretch your listing to be as a three bedroom as one can wall off the living-room as a separate bedroom. I believe most buyers in Jackson Heights want to live like a family. Do we seriously like to live like a dorm town in Manhattan so the brokers can jack up the price as high in Manhattan?  If that happens, most family will go to other areas for example (Forest Hills, Rego Park, Elmhurst) to find real homes.

You get what you pay for. By the way, What's your budget?

Regarding redfin or mlsli or other big companies, you have exactly restated what I said: their price are over inflated and these apartments are difficult sells.

I don't think I restated what you said or came anywhere near confirming what you believe. If you are finding the information in the rolling data from the Dept. of Finance valuable then you must acknowledge that the information found on websites such as Redfin or StreetEasy are part of that data. The Dept. of Finance records all sales, regardless of what brokerages took part in the sale.

I disagree that there is a difference in the listing prices of the large NY brokerages and the local brokers. I definitely have seen apartments listed for unusually high and low prices but these seem to be equally divided among both types of brokerages. I think this may have more to do with the individuals selling either believing their home is worth much more than it is (high asking price) or they really need to sell their home (low asking price). Although the brokers provide guidance, it is the seller that sets the price.

If what you believe is true that there is a considerable difference in asking prices between the larger NY companies and the local brokers, then the opposite argument could be made: the local brokers are keeping the prices in the neighborhood artificially low. Good for the buyer, but not for the seller.

Anyone reading this post can decide for themselves which information is most valuable for their needs.

If the listing apartments on Redfin or Streeteasy have been eventually closed, these sales will become part of the rolling sales data. However, the apartments that are on the market at Redfin or Streeteasy are a little bit over-priced or difficult sell (which may have been delisted and relisted for several times)

I've also found this site helpful: http://www.redfin.com/

Although it does not cover all of the city, it does cover Queens, including Jackson Heights. You can research both current listings and past sales in the neighborhood.

I was referring to the information on properties that have sold on these sites. Obviously, the apartments that are currently for sale will not be recorded in the rolling sales data or on Acris.

It seems clear that you are very confident with your approach and I wish you the best of luck in your search.

For anyone that is currently looking to purchase or sell in the neighborhood, I would highly recommend carefully exploring all of your options. I know I will when the time comes.