Blogs

There are few life events more stressful than facing foreclosure on your home. As a real estate lawyer, I've worked with many clients in this situation and know the havoc it can wreak on people's lives. When it looks like they could lose their home, my clients often ask me about any options that...

As a lawyer practicing in New York City, I often have people approach me with questions about purchasing a property that's in foreclosure. While it can be tempting to purchase a property at a significantly reduced price, there are pros and cons to consider before making such a significant investm...

If the word “foreclosure” has entered your life, you probably have many questions, and maybe some anxieties. We can help. What is Foreclosure? Foreclosure is the legal process that lenders use to take possession of a property when the borrower fails to make payments on a mortgage. When you borr...

With high mortgage rates, still high sales prices, and low inventory, it's no surprise that the number of Manhattan homes sold in 2022 tanked, especially compared to 2021. After several tumultuous years in New York City real estate, 2023 looks to be somewhat…dull. Sales and Inventory Dropping G...

It's still too early in 2023 to say with any confidence exactly what will happen in New York City real estate this year, but we know that demand for housing in the Big Apple will always be high. For buyers, the bidding wars of 2020 and 2021 seem to have ended. Rising interest rates have limited ...

Midtown Manhattan's iconic Lever House is one of several Plaza district buildings getting a high-dollar remodel in hopes of keeping it competitive with new buildings on the west side, but Lever House's facelift is probably the one most closely watched. Built on Park Avenue in 1952, Lever House w...

It's been a strange few years for New York real estate, and it's about to get even stranger. Developers who have been drooling over the idea of opening a casino in the city for decades got a lot closer to achieving their dream in January when the state put out a request for applications. Plenty...

There's a new face in West Chelsea. Five years after starting construction, the 60-story 3Eleven building is nearly complete. The 938-unit building is the largest new multi-family project in Manhattan. With rents ranging from $5,100 to $6,700 per month, the residents it's hoping to attract are t...

As a lawyer practicing in New York City, I often ask homeowners whether they can sell their homes after receiving a loan modification. The answer is yes, but there are some important things to consider before doing so. What is a loan modification? First, it is essential to understand what a loa...

The after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still being felt throughout the New York City real estate market, particularly in the multifamily sector. With many tenants struggling to pay rent and vacancy rates on the rise, landlords are facing increasing financial pressure. The latest example i...

The New York City real estate market is one of the most attractive in the world, with buyers from around the globe flocking to this metropolis for its rich history and culture. However, as the Federal Reserve has increased interest rates over the last couple of years to put the brakes on inflatio...

Good news for New York commercial real estate owners: The Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP) in New York City has officially begun its 2023-24 renewal period. What is ICAP? The New York City Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP) allows property owners to reduce the...

Construction is nearly complete on the new, seven-story New York City Korea Center in Murray Hill, the new home of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea. The visually striking building will feature 35,600 square feet, an all-glass façade, and a sculptural crown made from bronze-toned sla...

New York's Battery Park City Authority recently took steps to protect one of lower Manhattan's most vulnerable points for flooding. The North and West Battery Park City Resiliency Project is a $631 million sea wall construction project at the southern tip of Manhattan that will protect the area ...

Much has been said about the recent drop in the number of condos and co-ops sold in New York City in 2022. For the first time since 2022, home sales dropped—both in numbers and dollars— in the fourth quarter of 2022. The median sales price of $1.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 was 5.5% lo...

Influencers rule the roost online. With a quick post, video, or photo caption, they can send thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of buyers to purchase a product or visit a business. Brands have understood this for over a decade and have been happy to offer lucrative sponsorships to online infl...

About one in 10 rent-stabilized apartments in New York City are currently sitting empty, and it's not for lack of demand. Interestingly, the actual number of empty rent-stabilized units – 88,830 – is significantly higher than the number of empty units landlords reported to the state – 61,000. Th...

Remember early in the pandemic when grocery stores ran out of toilet paper and other items? Retailers quickly adjusted to those low inventory situations, stocking up on items expected to be in high demand. Retailers responded by switching from a “just in time” strategy that kept on hand only wha...

Now that major cities have opened back up and workers are returning to their offices, real estate markets across the United States that boomed during the pandemic are finding that demand is now dwindling. Mile High Prices Dropping According to data released by Redfin, 21% of home sellers droppe...

Can Adam Neumann do for residential real estate what he did for office space with WeWork? That's the question investors and real estate professionals have been asking after the announcement of Neumann's new company, called Flow, dropped in August. Deep Pocketed Investors Flow, scheduled to laun...

New York housing has seen its lows and highs in rapid succession since COVID-19 swept through the state. In early 2020 and 2021, it was a buyer's market. It took months to rent apartments and commercial real estate because so many people had left the city and were wary of returning. Jump to 2022,...

With all the predictions for the coming year, here's one most New Yorkers will be thrilled to hear: New York City rent prices are expected to drop in 2023. All that remains to be seen is when those price decreases occur and by how much. Last year the median rent in NYC skyrocketed to almost $1,0...

Four New York City landlords recently sued the city, saying they should be removed from a city program that forces them to prove that their tenants were not harassed. The landlords say the program, the Certificate of No Harassment Pilot Program Building List, is “mired in secrecy” and prevents t...

Just about everywhere you go, people are talking about a potential recession. Fortunately, few seem confident that a recession is coming, even though many worry about one. The last few years have been a crazy roller coaster for residential real estate, but what does a potential recession mean for...

We don't like to remember the recession and real estate crisis of 2008, but let's think back on it for a moment. From 2007-2009, the total transaction volume of commercial real estate dropped by nearly 87%. Why? A nearly completely frozen debt market. What is a Frozen Debt Market? Forget any im...