Brownstone Brooklyn: 8 properties in the iconic style.

976 Sterling Place, Crown Heights
It’s the first time in nearly 50 years that this four-story brownstone has been up for sale. The place boasts fireplaces with original wood mantels, shutters, mahogany wainscoting, and stained glass.
Asking price: $745,000
Broker: Anne Buckley and Theresa Balardi, Fillmore Real Estate

Welcoming back grads -- at least some

Post-college renters are back in the city, but activity not as strong as some expected June 02, 2010 07:00AM By Candace Taylor

In New York, springtime usually means a flood of fresh-faced college graduates ready to start their first job and live together in their first rental apartment.

Last year, much to the dismay of many brokers, that flood was more like a trickle, thanks to the recession. Now, with the economy improving, agents and landlords are expecting the much-hyped return of renters to the market.

"In 2009, there was an eerie lack of the annual stream of recent grads moving to the city for their first job," said Jeff Schleider, founder of Manhattan-based brokerage Miron Properties. "It's reassuring to see that these grads are back."

Buoyed by good news about the real estate market and the economy, landlords and agents gleefully primed themselves for the return of these newly minted renters. Over the last several months, as The Real Deal has reported, many landlords raised their rents and scaled back concessions, such as a month's free rent. For example, Glenwood -- one of the city's major landlords -- spread the word that beginning June 1, it would no longer offer a month of free rent at any of its buildings. (The company will continue to pay brokers' fees, for the time being at least.)

Jared Wiener, the director of sales and leasing at Platinum Properties, estimated that rents are around 5 percent higher than last year at this time. "This season, the landlords are coming out with guns blazing," he said.

But they may be getting ahead of themselves. Some rental agents reported last month that despite the buzz, activity has actually been slower than expected so far this season.

"Rental transactions have been steady since April," said Takeshi "Takk" Yamaguchi, an agent at DJK Residential. "That being said, it's nowhere near as hectic as I thought it would be."

While "landlords are taking away incentives in certain neighborhoods and buildings," he said, "they should not get too carried away in areas like the Upper East Side and Midtown."

Wiener agreed. "May is slower than anticipated, which is surprising," he said. "Clearly the job market is not helping."

That, or renters are reluctant to sign on the dotted line because they're displeased with the deals they're finding. "It's tough when their friends were able to get a similar apartment six months ago for a lower price and a free month's rent," Miron's Schleider said.

Buyers are having a similar experience. Expecting to find a slow market where they'll have their pick of deeply discounted apartments, they're surprised to find intense competition instead.

"Buyers can't believe that there are multiple offers and bidding wars happening so regularly, until they experience it firsthand," said Ari LeFauve, a vice president and associate broker at the Real Estate Group New York.

The competition is being fueled by a continued shortage of well-priced inventory, brokers said, as well as a large number of bargain-hunting buyers all reentering the market at the same time.

"Buyers are coming out of the woodwork," said Ali Jafri, an agent at Prudential Douglas Elliman. "There is a release of pent-up demand."

As a result, "everyone is going after the same listings," said Rob Jackson, a salesperson at the Corcoran Group.

The competition also intensified this spring thanks to the end of the federal homebuyer tax credit program on April 30, and those buyers are now racing to make sure their deals close before the deadline of June 30.

"The government stimulus tax break definitely gave even more urgency for buyers," said Fumiyo Hayashi, a vice president at Barak Realty. "What's difficult right now is the pressure of making sure that things are moving so that the buyers can close by the end of June to capture the tax break."

In general, buyers who don't make offers quickly enough are finding that, often to their great displeasure, they are getting outbid on the properties they want -- sometimes multiple times.

Others can't find homes at all, which can be frustrating.

"In the large-apartment segment, meaning eight to 12 rooms, there is simply no inventory," said Deborah Komarow, an agent at Warburg Realty Partnership, noting that few of these large homes have come on the market recently because sellers want to avoid discounting them. "Now that the market has stabilized, the large-apartment buyer has come back into the market, and there is nothing to show them."

Some buyers simply aren't able to accept that the crisis may be over, said Judi Desiderio, the CEO of Hamptons-based Town & Country Real Estate.

"You have the half-empty/half-full mentalities," she said. "Some are playing it like Chicken Little, 'The sky is falling,' and expect a double-dip recession with housing taking another tumble. Others -- and this is the majority -- believe we have bottomed out and are ready to buy."

One lingering concern for many is the economic turmoil in Europe.

"The Euro zone crisis may still yet spill over into the global markets, which in turn will hit New York real estate values, and this is of serious concern," said Schleider.

Still, conditions are markedly improved for brokers.

As John Reinhardt, president and CEO of Fillmore Real Estate, said, "It's great to be busy again."

"If we're taking vacations, we're not staying away too long," he said. "This is the right environment for a salesperson."

Bronx buyers on the way up! Affordable means attainable at Lafayette Estates

BY Lynne Miller   |  Friday, June 4th 2010, 4:00 AM

When you ask Heydi and Dieter Rivera what they like most about their new apartment, they don’t give a typical response. The one-bedroom apartment in the Soundview section of the Bronx has a sleek kitchen appointed with stainless steel appliances, black granite countertops and dark wood cabinets with frosted glass doors. The bathroom has a European-style glass sink. The bedroom has two closets including a walk-in. The living room is filled with natural light.

“We have privacy,” says Dieter, 35.

“I’m alone,” says 28-year-old Heydi, beaming.

Being alone feels like a luxury to this couple, who immigrated to New York from the Dominican Republic with ambition and dreams, but not money. For years, they bunked in the living room of Dieter’s father’s apartment in Washington Heights, sharing the cramped space with Dieter’s dad and his brother and brother’s wife. Between the five, there was one bathroom, no privacy, no space and loud music. 

Like many hardworking immigrants, the Riveras wanted the American Dream and had to learn the American way, or more precisely, the New York way, to achieve it. The newlyweds were determined to get their own apartment and figured they’d rent.

The idea of buying a place intrigued them, especially when a friend told Dieter owning could be less costly than renting. Still, Heydi got discouraged to the point of tears when she scanned apartment ads online. They could spend no more than $1,300 a month for housing and every place Heydi looked at seemed out of reach. Many co-op buildings require a 20% down payment, and Heydi knew they couldn’t swing that. They both worked full time but had no credit. Real estate brokers didn’t think they had a chance.

The Riveras were feeling dejected when they met Jean-Paul Ho at Lafayette Estates, an affordable housing development in Soundview. Ho, a vice president at Fillmore Real Estate and a top city broker working out of Brooklyn and the Bronx, was leading a homebuyers seminar at the newly converted co-op building near the Long Island Sound, Bruckner Expressway and Bronx River Parkway.

“I felt bad for them,” recalls Ho, who has made a specialty out of finding homes for low- to moderate-income clients and holding their hands through the financing process. “They were very motivated. We knew they were qualified buyers, but it would take time.”

Establishing credit was the first step. The Riveras got a credit card through Citibank and then started working with another bank to secure a mortgage through the State of New York Mortgage Agency. Known as SONYMA, the agency helps buyers with modest incomes get fixed-rate mortgages at lower interest rates. Buyers are only required to put 5% down.

Dealing with the bank’s loan officer wasn’t easy, though. Heydi sent the officer the required documents, sometimes sending the same forms over again, but after going back and forth with the bank for six months, the Riveras were turned down.

I was so angry, disappointed, angry, angry, angry,” Heydi says.

The couple then went to the bank where they already had a credit card and, six months later, got approved for a 30-year fixed-rate SONYMA mortgage. They qualified for other programs, too, including a federal program for first-time homebuyers that gave them $8,000 in stimulus money.

The financial incentives enabled the Riveras to buy their first-floor co-op for only $135,000. Their monthly mortgage and maintenance payments, which include utilities, come to $1,200, less than their maximum budget.

They got a steal,” Ho says, noting that other one-bedroom units that have not been upgraded in the complex rent for $1,300 to $1,400 a month.

Consisting of eight buildings, Lafayette Estates sits on lushly planted grounds.  Soundview Park across the street offers more green space. 

The buildings were built in 1962 as rentals for moderate-income people under the Mitchell-Lama subsidized housing program. By the late 1980s, they had fallen into severe disrepair. A group of tenants, led by the late Doris White, a longtime resident, banded together to stop vandalism and line up new owners who would work with tenants to give residents a shot at owning a co-op. 

In an unusual development for a Mitchell-Lama project, the buildings were purchased for $100 million by AREA Property Partners, formerly known as Apollo Real Estate Advisors. The firm plans to turn all of the nearly 2,000 apartments into reasonably priced co-ops. Getting lifelong renters to warm up to the co-op model was the biggest hurdle for AREA.

‘It was a challenge to educate and empower the residents, and explain the benefits of home ownership and everything that comes with it — the equity and the tax advantages,” says Jarrod Whitaker, AREA’s on-site project manager. “We were able to work with them and get the information out.”

A few months after sales started, the financial crisis hit. Several of the banks providing buyers with mortgages went out of business. New lenders had to be lined up.

AREA poured $7 million into improvements including new elevators, windows, the roof, security station, lobby, laundry room and landscaping. More work remains to be done. Over the next two years, the company plans to convert the remaining rental towers into co-op buildings. 

The remodeled apartments attract many first-time buyers. Nearly 200 new homeowners are former tenants in the complex who took advantage of 40% to 50% discounts offered by AREA to existing residents who had been renting at the time of the co-op conversion. At market prices, a one-bedroom was listed for sale at $214,875 and a two-bedroom (in contract) listed at $292,500 on Fillmore’s Web site.

People are drawn to the low prices and are surprised to find new bamboo floors, modern pendant lamps and kitchens that look high-end. Some high apartments offer views of the Manhattan skyline.

“Residents are very happy to call Lafayette home,” Whitaker says. “We have a product here that rivals any co-op or condominium in Manhattan.”

To maintain their lifestyle, the Riveras are careful with money. They do without some things people take for granted, like frequent restaurant meals and trips. Heydi cooks every day and is the only one at work to bring lunch from home. The couple has not taken a vacation in three years. Heydi mostly skips the beauty salon and styles her jet-black hair herself. She doesn’t buy Christmas presents and doesn’t go overboard with new clothes. Her thrifty ways have rubbed off on Dieter.

“I’ve learned you don’t have to buy everything you want,” he says.

Dieter puts in 65 hours a week managing a parking garage in Manhattan, and Heydi works full time at a bakery in Grand Central Terminal. They don’t have a lot of down time, but when they are at home in their sparsely furnished, neat-as-a-pin apartment, they enjoy simple pleasures like hearing the birds sing in the morning, or not hearing anything at all. Compared to Dad’s living room, their place looks and sounds like another world.  People are impressed when they visit.

“For me it’s like a dream,” Dieter says. “My family and friends come and say, ‘Wow.’”

Friday was a day of celebration in East New York, Brooklyn, where more than 45 low-and moderate-income families were in danger of losing FHA loans needed to purchase new homes at MeadowWood at Gateway for little money down and low-interest mortgages. Here’s Taconic Investment Partners’ Peter Febo, Ed Towns, Fillmore Real Estate’s John Reinhardt, and Marty Markowitz with three of the buyers. Earlier this year, the condo community was approved to offer FHA-insured loans to buyers, but discrepancy between FHA guidelines and those of the NYS’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal guidelines put the loans in jeopardy. After lengthy negotiations, the loans were re-installed, thanks to Congressman Ed Towns, Taconic Investment Partners, and Fillmore Real Estate, with help of NY State Senator John Sampson and Brooklyn Borough prez Marty Markowitz.  

Illustration by Mark Nerys

Alice and Christopher Ross, husband-and-wife event photographers who also work in TV, had rarely thought about buying an apartment until a year ago, when a friend suggested that the buyer’s market might be nearing its bottom. Financing snafus scuttled their first couple of bids, but this March, they made a respectable $550,000 offer on a South Slope two-bedroom that had lounged on the market for months. Then, out of nowhere, another bidder offered a larger down payment. The Rosses, eager to make a deal since Alice was pregnant, countered at full price, $559,000, and they had an agreement. Then the sellers scheduled another open house that coming Sunday. The Rosses started to worry: Surely the place was theirs? They were just waiting for the paperwork to catch up, right? For days, “it was radio silence,” says Christopher, and then their broker, Halstead’s Rodney Ripps, called with bad news: A visitor at that fateful open house had swooped in with an all-cash offer of more than the asking price. “It was devastating,” he says. “Why are we having such a hard time? In a recession!”

Though there are skeptics-“Bidding wars are for suckers. And, yes, there are suckers out there,” wrote a poster on StreetEasy.com a few weeks back-plenty of buyers are determined enough to engage in pricing one-upsmanship. More than half of Manhattan and Brooklyn brokers at the Corcoran Group who responded to a recent in-house survey reported navigating at least one bidding war this year. Between 12 and 15 percent of deals struck last month by agents at Brooklyn’s Fillmore Real Estate had multiple bids, up from approximately 5 percent in March; and at Warburg Realty’s East Side Gallery office, at least 20 percent of April’s transactions incited a contest. Elliman’s Alfred Renna, an executive vice-president who analyzes contracts at the firm, says between 4 and 6 percent of their deals in the first four months of the year wound up fetching more than the asking price after multiple bids.

So how do you, as a buyer, avoid getting caught in this predicament? Look for a situation where you can make the best offer, which does not necessarily mean more money. All-cash offers carry weight, obviously, but if you can’t swing that, don’t despair. To avoid a bidding war, Corcoran’s Maura Geils recommends putting “your best bait on the hook” immediately-don’t hold back. And be at the ready with all documentation. A pair of her clients recently outflanked a deep-pocketed competitor because the couple was organized and responsive and therefore better positioned for a co-op-board interview.

Lately, the wars tend to happen only over the most desirable apartments in the most coveted neighborhoods. (In Brooklyn, for instance, that means two-bedrooms with outdoor space in the preferred Park Slope and Boerum Hill school districts.) “Those are like hotcakes with maple syrup,” Ripps says. “Everyone loves them.” Adjust your horizons just slightly-looking at apartments on the margins of your favorite neighborhood, say—and you’ll strongly improve your chances of being the top bidder. Patience worked for the Rosses: They just signed a contract for another apartment, a Park Slope two-bedroom, without much competition. So far.

Firms battling in Brooklyn
Corcoran leads the way with listings, while Fillmore has most agents May 01, 2010 07:00AM By Candace Taylor

Click image for full version
Last month, New York Magazine surprised Manhattanites when it named Park Slope "The Most Livable Neighborhood in New York." But the ranking came as no surprise to major city real estate firms, who have been busily setting up shop in "Brownstone Brooklyn" for more than a few years.

In fact, Brown Harris Stevens recently expanded its office at 100 Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. The Corcoran Group, meanwhile, is also increasing its Park Slope footprint and taking over a space once occupied by a Thai restaurant above its office at 125 Seventh Avenue. The move will make room for about 20 additional agents, according to Frank Percesepe, Corcoran's regional senior vice president for Brooklyn. (The company may close another small Park Slope space once the bigger office is up and running.)

Corcoran has also been doing more deals in Kensington, Windsor Terrace, Greenpoint and Bushwick, Percesepe said.

In 1998, Corcoran became the first major Manhattan firm to venture into Brooklyn. It was a prescient move: Brooklyn home prices have since soared, and Corcoran's early entry into the market has paid off handsomely in terms of market share. With offices in Williamsburg, Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights in addition to Park Slope, Corcoran has the highest dollar value of listings of any firm in Brooklyn, according to The Real Deal's first annual ranking of Brooklyn firms.

With roughly 230 agents, Corcoran is the second-largest firm in the borough, behind 44-year-old Fillmore Real Estate, which has nearly 290 agents and is based in Sheepshead Bay.

Corcoran has more than twice as many Brooklyn agents as third-ranked Elliman, which came to Brooklyn in 2004. Brown Harris Stevens, which also moved into Brooklyn in 2004, is ranked No. 4 in the borough, with 71 agents. Halstead has three Brooklyn offices and 34 Brooklyn agents, coming in at No. 14.

In the past few years, the Manhattan firms have impacted the Brooklyn market by encouraging other agents to "co-broke," or show other companies' exclusive listings.

When the Manhattan firms first came to Brooklyn, "there was no co-broking," recalled Hall Willkie, president of Brown Harris Stevens. "They were used to dealing with their own listings only."

The Manhattan firms that moved into Brooklyn are members of the Real Estate Board of New York, which requires them to co-broke. That's helped prompt many smaller firms to do the same.

"It's always better to share," said Paul Link, a manager and associate broker at Marine Park-based Tracey Real Estate, which ranked ninth in size with 42 agents. "You're going to look good in the client's eyes."

Co-broking is one factor that's helped increase Brooklyn real estate prices in recent years, said Michael Guerra, director of sales for Elliman's Brooklyn Division. "It drives more traffic, and more traffic will ultimately drive up prices," he said.

But Brooklyn firms are only taking co-broking so far. A few have joined REBNY, but many refuse because they feel that paying dues to the Manhattan-based trade organization has little benefit for their agents, explained John Reinhardt, the CEO of Fillmore, which is not a REBNY member.

And, understandably, many Brooklyn firms are not pleased about the arrival of the Manhattan-based companies.

Because of the additional competition, "my people have to work harder," said Marc Garstein, the president of Warren Lewis Realty in Park Slope, adding that his 20-agent firm "got killed" in the recession, though things are now picking up.

But intense pressure from Manhattan firms is still limited to Northwest Brooklyn neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope.

"There's the Downtown Brooklyn brokers, and the rest of Brooklyn," said Reinhardt, noting that the big Manhattan firms have few listings in southern Brooklyn, where price points are lower.

Indeed, based on the value and number of listings each firm has, the average price of a Fillmore listing is around $387,000. Corcoran's average listing, meanwhile, is around $735,000, while Elliman's is nearly $600,000.

Reinhardt -- whose firm ranked fourth in terms of listing value, with $136.7 million worth of properties on the market -- said he's not worried about losing market share to the Manhattan firms. In part, that's because many of Brooklyn's neighborhoods are so diverse that it's difficult for outside real estate brokers to gain a foothold there, he said.

"There are so many different nuances to Brooklyn," he said. "One side of the street is different from the other side of the street. There's so much to know, and it's not something [brokers] can learn about in a textbook or read about."

Be that as it may, many local mom-and-pop firms are becoming franchises of national brands. Jaroslaw Kaszuba, who co-founded All Seasons Realty in Canarsie in 1998, said he was concerned by the number of small brokerages closing. To help avoid that fate, they became a franchise of Exit Realty in 2007. Exit's business model, which offers agents 70 percent commissions, has helped lure agents from other firms, allowing All Seasons to grow from three agents to 59 in just two years.

Many small Brooklyn firms have had a difficult time in the recession, said Reinhardt, who noted that his company has allowed several "walk-overs," where all of the agents of a smaller company become Fillmore agents (though he wouldn't name the companies).

Still, even Fillmore has dropped in overall size, he said. Many agents -- especially part-timers -- left the business when the economy turned south.

"You can't be mediocre anymore," Reinhardt said. "You have to be a great agent."

 

Fillmore Honors its Outstanding Brokers
Compiled by Linda Collins | Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN - Fillmore Real Estate, a family-owned Brooklyn firm, paid homage to its star brokers during the company's 44th Annual Filly Awards recently at Gargiulo's Caterers in Coney Island.

“Our outstanding agents have helped Fillmore achieve continued success, even in this challenging real estate market,” said John P. Reinhardt, president and CEO. “This yearly tradition gives us a chance to recognize them more fully and show our appreciation for all of their hard work and commitment to top-notch customer service.”

With Fillmore corporate trainer Les Newlands serving as emcee for the event, which attracted more than 300 for dining and dancing, the following were among the awards presented:

• Top Producer awards went to Angela Friedman, named “Top Producer” for the third year in a row, with Maria Ciocia and Tina Del Toro taking the silver and bronze, respectively.

• Rookie of the Year Award went to Jerry Baptiste.

• Most Improved Agent Award went to Joe Nehmad.

• Top Sales Office Award went to the 9317 Avenue L office, headed by Jean-Paul Ho and Jean-Claude Ho. Addtionally, the pair was given a “Team Award” for their efforts.

• Team Player Award went to the 6416 Bay Parkway office, headed by Joseph DeVito and John Intoci. • Rising Star awards, for those newer agents with a year or less experience, went to Michael Dvorkin, Mark Kerr and Susan Potter.

• Administrative Assistant of the Year awards went to Donna Digiso and Diane Buckley.

• Most Improved Office Award went to the 4717 Avenue N location.

• Lou Belisario Award, a special award in honor and in memory of Fillmore founder Bill Reinhardt Sr.’s late brother-in-law, was bestowed on Nancy Pecoraro. It is presented to the broker who exemplified “a positive spirit and admirable loyalty.”

FILLMORE REAL ESTATE HOSTS TAX CREDIT SEMINAR

Wednesday March 24,2010

2990 Avenue U Brooklyn, New York 11229
718.907.1103

With less than two months left to take advantage of the federal tax credit, potential Brooklyn homebuyers may want to attend the Tax Credit Seminar sponsored by Fillmore Real Estate on Wednesday, March 24, at its office in Sheepshead Bay.

The event, designed to educate and inform potential homebuyers on how the tax credit may impact their housing decisions, will feature corporate trainer Les Newlands, who will also conduct a Q&A session.

The federal tax credit gives qualified first-time buyers up to 10 percent of the purchase price, or up to $8,000, in credits, and qualified long-time homeowners looking to “step-up” to a more expensive home up to a $6,500 credit if under contract by April 30 and closed by June 30 of this year, according to John Reinhardt, president and CEO.

“This is the most advantageous time to buy a home in many years, thanks to attractive pricing, a great selection of homes to choose from,and very low interest rates,” he said. “The federal tax credit appeals to people who may not have been able to afford to purchase a condominium or co-op, but thanks to this extra boost, now can.”

The seminar, which is open to the public, will be held from 7 to 9 p.m.

Fillmore’s corporate headquarters is at 2990 Avenue U, near Nostrand Avenue.

To pre-register, please call (718) 907-1103.

John Reinhardt

BROOKLYN - John Reinhardt, the well-known president and CEO of Fillmore Real Estate, has been named president of the Brooklyn Board of Realtors (BBOR) for 2010.

 

Reinhardt's appointment will be made official at an inaugural celebration beginning at 1 p.m. today, Jan. 6, at Michael's restaurant in Marine Park.

"John brings tremendous experience and a wide range of skills to the board," said Rich Schulhoff, CEO. "Most importantly, he has a passion for the Brooklyn real estate scene that will serve him well in his new post."

Other officers elected for one-year terms include Catherine Favara, president-elect; Doreen Garson, vice president; Rosalie Daniel, treasurer; and Mary Ann Arbia, secretary.

Those elected to serve as directors for three-year terms, 2010 through the end of 2012, include Aaron Ivatorov, Julie Kestyn, Barbara LaBarca, Mohamed Mahmoud, Kathy McCall, Edmund Sadio and Tony Ursino.

During his term in office, Reinhardt said he plans to launch new programs aimed at expanding the organization's reach, including a BBOR blog and an enhanced web site with a focus on technology, www.tbbor.org.

The focus on technology will continue through the creation of "fan pages" on all major social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

He also plans a first-ever "Tech Day," an event where speakers and vendors will share their knowledge and products with BBOR members; a "Spring Fling Day at the Races" in May; and will introduce a new committee, the Future of Real Estate Committee (FORE).

"Its main goal will be to engage Brooklyn's younger realtors, since they truly have their fingers on the pulse of what’s in store for the real estate industry and the business community at large," he explained.

Reinhardt has been actively involved in the Brooklyn Board for the past 25 years, serving on the board and chairing the public relations, political action, special events and technology committees.

He replaces outgoing president, Sal Calabrese, a broker/owner of RE/MAX Metro who, during his term, introduced several educational programs on foreclosure prevention and short sales.

"It is an honor to be entrusted with guiding the membership through this complex, yet opportunity-laden real estate market," Reinhardt said in a published statement. "I look forward to building upon the excellent leadership of our former president, Sal Calabrese, and introducing new events and initiatives to current and prospective members."

The Brooklyn Board of Realtors, founded in 1905, is one of the oldest realtor organizations in the country and is one of the top five largest boards in the state.

Real Estate Roundup

RealEstateBisnow.com - June 9, 2009

Fillmore Ave. at Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn was recently renamed Bill Reinhardt Way, in honor of the late founder of Fillmore Real Estate, who passed away in 05. Here, son John Reinhardt, the firm's current CEO, helps unveil the new sign. The dedication ceremony was sponsored by Brooklyn councilman Lew Fidler, and Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz, state senator Marty Golden, and assemblyman Alan Maisel proclaimed May 28 as "Bill Reinhardt Day", capped with a celebration at 2990 Avenue U's Reinhardt Building.

The Closer: Myths of condo-hotel trade

Friday, June 5th 2009, 4:00 AM

He dispelled some myths about buying property in a hotel condominium, a hot investment during solid real-estate times, in which buyers stay for short periods in upscale properties but maintain ownership of the unit.

"The first thing a consumer needs to do is decide how this property fits their lifestyle," says Butler. "People shouldn't buy into a condo-hotel looking to make money from the room renting on nights when they are not there. They should think long-term."

- Last week was a busy one for Jennifer Bell. First, her birthday party at the West Village's new Casa La Femme drew a slew of real-estate and design notables. Designer Thom Filicia, construction executive William Gilbane 3rd, hotel entertainment marketer Greg Calejo, fashion designer Alvin Valley, Brown Harris Stevens's Reid Price, and Vogue's Lottie Oakley stopped by to toast Bell, who runs the upscale private-concierge and public-relations company Bellwether.

On Monday, Bell threw a fund-raiser for the Paul Chester Children's Hope Foundation at the Core Club on E. 55th St. All proceeds went to providing more funds for the foundation, which provides medical care for families in developing countries. A watch worth $19,000 was raffled off.

"To have the opportunity to take part in a mission in Ecuador and Colombia was surreal," says Bell. "Helping them and being able to offer them these life-changing operations will stay with me forever."

- Congratulations to Brooklyn real estate's first family, the Reinhardt family. Fillmore Real Estate's deceased founder Bill Reinhardt just had a street named after him. Fillmore Avenue at Flatbush Avenue will forever be known as "Bill Reinhardt Way." Back in 1966, Reinhardt opened Fillmore's first office on that very street.

- Khashy Eyn of Platinum Properties had a wild ride recently. Eyn, the founder of the Financial District's top real estate brokerage, brought the buyer to a $9.9 million sale of a Miami penthouse that closed in just 48 hours. Eyn and Philip Askeroth, one of Platinum's top brokers, flew to Miami to help close the deal for their client, a European bachelor who wanted to move in as soon as he possibly could.

"We hardly slept for 36 hours," says Eyn, 27, whose firm has been dealing in luxury rentals and sales in the Financial District since 2005, when the neighborhood was in its residential infancy. "I can't think of a faster sale ever. He saw the apartment, bid it, got the money wired, closed and moved in within a two-day span."

The all-glass apartment has 360-degree views and 26-foot-high ceilings. The home was recently featured on "Extra's" "Mansions & Millionaires" Miami episode.

Fillmore Ave. Now Named "Bill Reinhardt Way"   Marine Park's Fillmore Avenue at Flatlands Avenue last Friday was officially named "Bill Reinhardt Way" as the result of a dedication ceremony in honor of the late Mr. Reinhardt, the legendary founder of Fillmore Real Estate.

The ceremony, sponsored by Councilman Lew Fidler, Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Senator Martin Golden and Assemblyman Alan Maisel was attended by many of Mr. Reinhardt's friends and former business associated, as well as family, including his widow, Patricia and their children and grandchildren.

The corner location at Fillmore Avenue is particularly significant because this is where the first Fillmore Real Estate office opened in 1966.

Bill Reinhardt was widely admired for his leadership skills and warm, outgoing personality. John Reinhardt, the current chief executive officer and president of Fillmore, said his father "understood the importance of the American Dream of home ownership and, thanks to him, literally thousands of New Yorkers are living that dream."

'Bill Reinhardt Way': Fillmore Avenue Renamed, Honoring Legendary Realtor by Linda Collins (linda@brooklyneagle.net), published online 06-04-2009

Family and friends take a moment to pose at the ceremony. Photos by Tony Shlemovich, courtesy of Fillmore Real Estate Site Was Former Fillmore Real Estate Office; It's Now in Sheepshead Bay Compiled by Linda Collins | Brooklyn Daily Eagle MARINE PARK - A Brooklyn street has been renamed to honor Bill Reinhardt, the late legendary founder of Fillmore Real Estate who died in 2005. The renaming ceremony took place Friday, May 29, at Fillmore and Flatbush avenues in Marine Park, the site of the first Fillmore office which opened in 1966. Fillmore Avenue will now be called "Bill Reinhardt Way." The effort was spearheaded by local City Council Member Lew Fidler, who also sponsored the renaming ceremony, along with Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, NYS Senator Marty Golden and Assemblyman Alan Meisel. Hundreds of Reinhardt's friends, former business associates and family members - including his widow, Patricia Reinhardt, and their children and grandchildren - were also in attendance. John Reinhardt, his son, who currently heads the Brooklyn real estate firm, had the job of unveiling the new street sign. Following the ceremony, a reception was held in the Reinhardt Building, home of the current Fillmore Real Estate headquarters at 2990 Avenue U in Sheepshead Bay. "William (Bill) Reinhardt Sr. was one of Brooklyn's most beloved and respected business leaders," said Fidler. "Growing Fillmore from just one office more than 40 years ago to the powerhouse real estate firm that it is now, Bill was widely admired for his leadership skills and warm, outgoing personality. He understood the importance of the American Dream of home ownership and thanks to him, thousands of New Yorkers are living that dream."

Gotta Move, Gotta Sell

AS most New York City homeowners hunker bearishly inside their largest depreciating asset, one unfortunate contingent has no choice but to wade into the storm-tossed market. For these accidental sellers, life has gotten in the way — in the form of a job upheaval, imminent offspring, holy matrimony or the dissolution thereof.

A Red Hook redux

July 01, 2009 09:23AM By Gabby Warshawer Three years ago, a new high-water mark was set in Red Hook when the first house in the neighborhood sold for more than $1 million.

In the years that followed, a number of other houses in the Brooklyn neighborhood traded in the seven figures, making the largely industrial area one of the boom era's most unlikely Cinderella stories.

Nowadays, however, brokers say sales of homes priced at more than $1 million are generally not in the cards in Red Hook.

While deal volume and prices are down, the market for the area's small stock of single-family and two-family houses appears to be back to pre-2006 values.

However, the neighborhood is in the midst of a retail renaissance, bucking the retail trend citywide. And in a strange twist, it is also upending the traditional real estate logic that goods and services follow residents.

Mom-and-pop explosion

When Ikea opened in Red Hook last summer, many of the Brooklyn neighborhood's residents worried that traffic would overwhelm the area.

A year later, however, several new mom-and-pop stores and eateries have opened or are planned on Van Brunt Street, the neighborhood's main drag, and even some former opponents of Ikea concede that the store's presence has turned out to be a boon for Red Hook.

Retail and demographic changes in Red Hook have long provided fodder for media outlets: In 2007, the New York Post referred to the area as "Dead Hook," while a New York magazine story titled "The Degentrification of Red Hook" noted that "the neighborhood now seems to be going in reverse" after being hyped as the next 'It' area."

More recently, many news outlets, including The Real Deal, reported that the opening of the Ikea store was expected to give the area a boost. But few predicted that retail in Red Hook would be doing as well as it now is — particularly in the midst of a major economic meltdown.

Over the past couple of months, a clothing boutique called Tiburon, which specializes in handmade apparel and crafts, and a coal-oven pizza place called Anselmo's opened.

Meanwhile, a new café and bar called Fort Defiance was slated to open late last month. A number of other new spots — including a sausage-and-beer joint called Grindhaus, a hair salon, a vintage clothing store, a tapas restaurant and a roasting facility for Portland, Ore.-based Stumptown coffee — are all also planning to open soon.

"What's happening on Van Brunt is very reminiscent of what happened on Smith Street in the early '90s," said Sal Cappi, a vice president with Fillmore Real Estate, referring to the "restaurant row" that runs through Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens.

Cappi said that 20 years ago, "you wouldn't have even felt comfortable walking on Smith … after dark, but then the city repaved all the streets, you had pioneering young chefs open nice restaurants, and before you knew it restaurants and antique stores came on. And now, you actually have American Apparel."

The newcomers join Fairway, the well-reviewed restaurant the Good Fork, several bars, an art gallery, the diner Hope & Anchor and the bakery Baked.

The newest openings have all been small businesses; in the wake of Ikea's opening some analysts predicted that the neighborhood would become an attractive location for other big-box stores, but the economic winds have since shifted.

Developer Thor Equities' plan to build a large mixed-use development on the waterfront anchored by a major national retailer is still in wait-and-see mode, according to a Thor spokesman.

Meanwhile, many businesses now set to open on Van Brunt have received grants from the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corp., according to Elizabeth Demetriou, the organization's director for revitalization and development.

Demetriou said that while the grants, which typically provide matching funds for storefront renovations, haven't been the main impetus behind the new businesses, they have likely resulted in higher-quality renovations.

Street renamed for Fillmore founder

June 09, 2009 01:30PM Fillmore Avenue at the intersection of Fillmore and Flatbush avenues in Brooklyn has been renamed Bill Reinhardt Way in honor of the founder of Fillmore Real Estate. Reinhardt passed away in 2005, and his son, John Reinhardt, is the current Fillmore CEO. Brooklyn Council member Lew Fidler sponsored the dedication ceremony. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Senator Marty Golden and Assembly member Alan Maisel proclaimed May 28 Bill Reinhardt Day.

TheRealDeal              - 04/01/2009
N E W Y O R K R E A L E S T A T E N E W S
Buyers and sellers playing new head games

It's a buyers market, and $300,000 can now buy a wide variety of city real estate. NY1's Jill Scott filed the following report.

If you've got the means, most people in the know say this is a good time to buy a house. Prices are down and mortgage rates are low.

Periodically, NY1 will do a little house hunting to see what's available at different price points. This week, the budget is $300,000.

Manhattan
25 Tudor City Place, Apt. 2021
Manhattan East
$322,000
Broker: Mark Rucktenwald, Charles Rutenberg Realty
Office: 212-688-1000, Cell: 646-660-0995

This co-op doorman building in Tudor City is right by the East River.

"This is a studio apartment located in picturesque Tudor City. it's about 300 square feet located on the 20th floor," says Rucktenwald. "It faces south, so it gives you river views and city views. We are asking $322,000 right now, a price breakdown from $330,000."

Maintenance is $654 a month, including utilities. There is no oven or range but there is a 24-hour doorman, roof deck, gym and a park across the street. It has been on the market for one month.

Bronx
Lafayette Estates
825 Morrison Avenue
Soundview, Bronx
$300,000
Broker: Jean-Paul Ho, Fillmore Real Estate
Office: 646-329-9808 , Cell: 347-581-9506

This doorman building in Soundview, Bronx offers newly-renovated three-bedroom apartments with a little more space and a full kitchen.

"It's 1,166 square feet," says Ho. "It has three bedrooms, two baths, a large-size closet space. Bamboo flooring, granite counter top, all new appliances and also it has all new hardware. The whole unit has been totally renovated."

The price is listed at $300,000 for the lower floors and maintenance is $790 with utilities. The building is across the street from Soundview Park and is in walking distance from the 6 train.

At the complex, first-time buyers can qualify for one of several programs that can an allow for as little as 5 percent down or even help with closing costs.

Staten Island
335 Van Name Avenue
Mariners Harbor, Staten Island
$299,000
Broker: Michael Dukhovny, United National Realty
Office: 718-980-2500, Cell: 917-417-2990

This three-bedroom townhouse in Mariners Harbor, Staten Island is listed at $299,000.

"The house has hardwood floors on both levels. It was built in 2002 with 1900 square feet of living space," says Dukhovny. "You do have a full finished basement, you do have a nice eat-in kitchen on the main level. Three bedrooms upstairs and two bathrooms in the house."

This house comes as-is and is in need of a few repairs. It has been on the market for about six weeks.

This summer's credit crisis and the subsequent housing implosion haven't been good for anyone. But they've been especially hard on East New York, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.

Like the rest of the city, up until a couple of years ago, East New York was undergoing something of a building boom. The Bloomberg administration emphasized affordable housing and supported developers interested in revitalizing the area. Suddenly two-family houses began cropping up in infill spaces. Other developers became comfortable with the idea of investing in the area and so began buying up land and converting rentals to condos, and residents leapt at opportunities to buy.

The Seaview Estates in the area, for example, sold out in two years with 10 price increases, according to Fillmore Real Estate's Jean-Paul Ho.

The problem was that unlike the rest of the city, much of this new housing stock was made available to residents via predatory lending. Thus, when the defaulting began, it hit East New York like a tidal wave.

"There were a lot of foreclosures because there was a lot of predatory lending," says Ho. "People who bought put as low as no money down; prior to this market they had these ridiculous loans where you needed no job, no assets, no income."

According to New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, East New York witnessed the highest number of foreclosures in all of Brooklyn with 715 lis pendens filed in the first three quarters of 2008. Further, it had the second highest number in the five boroughs, following only Jamaica/Hollis in Queens.

The fallout has been the disappearance of mortgages.

"Right now the numbers in East New York compared to 2007 are down over 50 percent in volume of sales," says Sam Heskel, executive vice president of HMS Associates, a Brooklyn-based real estate consulting and appraisal firm. "You can attribute that to a lack of financing; these were subprime areas where people literally couldn't get financing."

The wave of foreclosures combined with an inability for buyers to get money has everyone wary. Banks are pulling construction financing. Even the government has put holds on certain projects. Almost everything has effectively ground to a halt. (There's an exception: a boutique hotel is coming to East New York. See Enticing travelers to eastern Brooklyn.)

"No one is putting shovels in the ground until we get rid of this mess," says John Reinhardt, the president and CEO of Fillmore Real Estate. "Everyone is in a holding pattern."

Not good for a neighborhood on the rise.

"We're seeing more boarded-up, abandoned and for-sale buildings all over our neighborhood than we've seen since the '80s," says Betsy MacLean, division director of Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation.

Cypress Hills had a number of projects in the works when the credit crisis went down. The 12-unit Glenmore Grove began construction in August 2008 and is still on track for completion around this time next year. But Cypress Village, a 23-unit project, is suddenly uncertain.

"Our funding from Cornerstone [a part of the mayor's New Housing Marketplace Plan, which creates new middle-income and market-rate, multi-family housing on vacant city-owned land] got pulled," says MacLean. "The city doesn't want to invest in homeownership projects and low-income neighborhoods because of high foreclosure rates; they see it as a bad investment. But I think the opposite is true - we need stable, supported home ownership more than anyone."

Thus, MacLean is continuing to move forward in any way she can.

"The status of our [Housing Preservation and Development] money has been in doubt," says MacLean. "But we're plugging ahead and assembling other sources and then we're going to make the case that we've done everything else; we just need HPD to kick in this amount."

"It's tricky," says MacLean. "Banks we've been talking to about this project for a year don't even want to look at updated budgets; they don't even want to talk to us."

HPD did not return calls for comment.

Dawanna Williams, founder and principal of Dabar Development Properties, feels this acutely. She was set to develop 22 townhouses with New York's New Foundations program, but her subsidies have been halted as well.

"They're on hold because of the amount of supply on the market right now," says Williams, who explains that it is her understanding that once some of the supply in the area is absorbed, funds will open back up. She estimates her project will cost $9 million, of which she expected HPD to kick in 15 percent.

"Under normal circumstances we could go to another source, but because of the credit crisis ... " she trails off. Williams hopes to be able to proceed this summer.

But it isn't all doom and gloom in East New York. In 2005, the Nehemiah Development Corporation began work on the Nehemiah Spring Creek Houses at Gateway Estates, a five-phase development due in 2014.

"We're comfortable with our subsidy. The city has not indicated that they would not come through; they have cooperated from the beginning," says Ron Waters, general manager and director at the Nehemiah Development Corporation.

At Spring Creek Houses, the 117 homes that make up phase one - the project will ultimately encompass 1,500 affordable homes - have been completed and fully sold out. The first 19 families moved in just before Christmas. The second phase of the project is nearly 30 percent constructed and Nehemiah Development is "starting to put together the numbers" on phase three right now.

MeadowWood at Gateway is another highly successful development. Since January 2008, 160 units have sold; 283, since sales started in September 2007. The project, a conversion of a former Mitchell-Lama rental complex, has 11 towers, 48 townhouses and 1,183 units, 700 of which the sponsor has left to sell.

"We've raised the price three times since January 2008 … even with the bad market, we're selling," says Ho, who is selling the project. "With the economy the way it is today, it's just like Wal-Mart stock and Spam. People are looking for deals and affordability and bargains."

In order to not add to the mortgage mess, MeadowWood has worked hard to educate its buyers on home ownership. They offer seminars - on grants, first-time buyer programs, closing cost assistance and more - twice a month to the public.

"Financing is the challenge," says Reinhardt, who has two offices in the vicinity. "But with SONYMA [State of New York Mortgage Agency] and HPD, we get many more qualified buyers … we have had zero foreclosures on homes we have sold."

Which is a plus, since the need cannot be denied.

"We had thousands of applications for nine houses," says Jared Della Valle, an architect with Della Valle Bernheimer, who completed Glenmore Gardens, a New Foundations project in East New York, in late 2006. "We stopped at 1,600 or 1,700. So unless the number of people who qualify has deteriorated significantly, I don't think there's any mystery. There is unending demand."

Priced to move: Where to find the best real estate deals

1 bedrooms for $120K, and more!

BY JASON SHEFTELL - DAILY NEWS REAL ESTATE CORRESPONDENT         Thursday, January 15th 2009, 5:11 PM

Contrary to popular belief, the New York real estate market is seeing brisk sales. You just have to know where to look.

On a near-freezing Sunday on the Grand Concourse, a trolley tour of Bronx apartments drew more than 30 house hunters and brokers looking to cash in on renovated one- and two-bedroom apartments starting around $120,000.

Century 21 Metro-Star agent and lifetime Bronx resident Gregory Tsougranis, who led the trolley tour, sold six apartments in the past two months. He also has two contracts and several offers in the first two weeks of 2009.

Ranging in price from $129,000 (one bedroom) to $283,400 (two-bedroom, two-bath 1,334 square-foot units with balconies and underground parking), these apartment sales show that even in tough times, certain niche segments are seeing heavy activity. With maintenance costs around $400, buyers who put 20% down with 4.5% interest rates on a mortgage can pay slightly over $1,100 per month for a one-bedroom unit.

“I have bidding wars and multiple offers on these apartments,” says Tsougranis, who credits his exclusive arrangement with building owner Maxx Realty for the success. “There is no reason to rent when you see these light and spacious apartments short walks from express trains. These prices represent the best value in the city right now, and people are starting to understand that. Manhattan’s too expensive for these homebuyers, but that’s a good thing for the Bronx. With good credit, financing at this level is not an issue.”

Maxx Realty, owners of multiple residential buildings in the Bronx and Brooklyn, has a 70-year history of managing Art Deco buildings and upgrading units for first-time homebuyers. Because Maxx is the converting sponsor of the unit and building owner, buyers don’t have to pass strict co-op standards.

On Sunday’s tour, mechanics, Wall Streeters and young couples unable to afford Harlem checked out apartments with renovated kitchens and baths, hardwood floors and original ceiling arches in seven Bronx buildings.
“I like the arches and that one of the bedrooms can be used for an office,” says Harlem native Thomas Daniels of a first-floor apartment on Decatur Ave. near Mosholu Parkway and the New York Botanical Gardens. “The bathrooms are brand new.”

Taking a best-building-on-the-block approach establishes Maxx Realty apartments as easier sells than buildings with poor maintenance or dilapidated hallways. The buildings on the tour all had clean hallways, large lobbies and architectural history.

601 Pelham Parkway is an Art Deco masterpiece designed by H.I. Feldman in 1937. It has a mosaic tile mural in the building’s marble lobby and views of the Empire State Building from the high floors. A 730-square-foot one-bedroom with a sunken living room was just reduced in price to $159,000.

“I’ve been looking on the Grand Concourse below 161st St., and this tour gave me an
understanding of what’s available in the rest of the borough,” says Sandy Tansky, a board member of the Art Deco Society of New York, who currently lives on the upper West Side. “The commitment to the historical preservation of the building is impressive. I told my broker to notify me immediately if a two-bedroom comes up.”

At East New York’s MeadowWood at Gateway residential complex, Fillmore Real Estate vice president Jean-Paul Ho has seen 40 apartments go to contract in the past four months. They offer free home-buying seminars, access to federal loan programs and help understanding tax laws that can save buyers up to $5,000 per year.

“I tell people all the time that they are buying a mortgage and not a home price,” says Ho, who has studios with mortgage and maintenance payments coming to just over $1,000 per month. “Real estate is cyclical, and this is the cycle you want to buy in. If you wait and miss it, you will lose money.”

In Manhattan, developers Trevor Stahelski and Kyle Ransford of Cardinal Investments look to target a specific market opening — well-designed studios and one-bedrooms costing $500,000 to $1 million. In Cardinal’s most recent development, a rehab of a lower East Side boutique building at 17 Orchard, two studios have seen significant traffic. One already sold, and the other, listed at $450,000 for 599 square feet, has had offers.

“If I had my druthers, I’d only build studios and one-bedrooms and sell them for fair prices in Manhattan,” says Stahelski, who watched one of Cardinal’s building’s on the upper East Side with one-bedrooms sell out in several months two years ago. “Whenever we have those available they fly off the shelves, even in this market. Young buyers are crying for something of quality at a low price point. The below-$1-million apartment could really bring Manhattan back to life and keep young people from going to Brooklyn.”

Jorge Perez of Platinum Properties works where he lives. Focusing on rentals in his new home, the Long Island City East Coast building, Perez has rented nine apartments in the past two months.

 

“Incentives such as free months’ rent do help push things along,” says Perez, “but being more innovative is the best way to keep busy. By specializing in this building, I have been able to become a master of one area rather than a jack of all trades.”

 At Barak Realty, a midsize agency on the upper West Side, managing director and executive vice president Antonio del Rosario told his brokers to focus only on serious buyers. Not wanting to waste any time satisfying sellers asking outrageous amounts for their homes, del Rosario has seen certain brokers have excellent months in this tough market. The firm reports a 50% increase in closings in fourth quarter 2008 from 2007, and a 25% increase in contracts signed over the same period.

“This is a buyer’s market, and I want my brokers only working with serious buyers and motivated sellers,” says del Rosario. “The days of just opening the door and making sales are over. Agents are now being asked to do what they are supposed to do — negotiate house deals. Sellers have to know that only realistic prices will sell in this market. We’re seeing extraordinarily positive results.”

Those results aren’t relegated to the residential sector. Prudential Douglas Elliman retail chairman Faith Hope Consolo has been in forward motion since July, when she started seeing a decrease in activity.

“The market seems to be in slow motion, but certain sectors are hot,” says Consolo, who recently leased a space on Bleecker St. to an Italian cooking school. “A company with good fundamentals and a decent bottom line hasn’t seen deals like these in at least 10 years. ”

Consolo points to specific industries, such as jewelry, youth apparel, medium- to low-priced home furnishing stores and beauty boutiques as actively seeking space.

“I have a big furnishing client looking at large spaces in Brooklyn and Queens,” she says. “Niche beauty stores like Lancome are up. Why? Because that hot lipstick color is a safer show-off product than this season’s expensive ‘it’ handbag.”

Still, though, experienced brokers are cautious about putting a finger on where prices will settle and what market activity means right now.

“A good broker will make money in any market,” says Peter R. Marra, managing director for sales at Brown Harris Stevens. “It’s difficult for buyer and sellers to determine the fair price of an apartment today, and that is slowing things down at the moment. Yes, the market has had a shake-up. But there is nothing quick and easy about this business, and times like these prove it.”

Rapidly Contracting Market Sharpens Competition

National real estate trends are catching up to the New York market, and that means residential brokerages will likely be slashing employment costs by 15 to 20 percent this year, heralding a plunge in the number of agents.

"If [brokerages] expect to be strong enough to get through this, that's what they are going to be doing," said Steve Murray, editor of Castle Rock, Colo.-based residential real estate research firm Real Trends. The National Association of Realtors listed the number of agents at 1.34 million at the end of 2007, and Murray said that had fallen to 1.1 million by December.

"It would not surprise us to drop clear back down to 900,000 this year," he said.

In the city, the winnowing process has already begun, with very different consequences for top and bottom producers. High-grossing agents may become even more sought after, as every deal matters more. That could lead to poaching and jumping between firms. Some companies, including Fillmore Real Estate, are dangling better commission deals as a lure in a fiercely competitive market.

New or underperforming agents face a bleak future. Brokerages have already shuttered branch offices, tied compensation to stringent performance goals, and cut headcount through layoffs and attrition. That should continue as 2009 unfolds.

While the New York market held up for a while as the national scene crashed and burned, that's no longer the case. Among the many grim statistics was November's 20 to 30 percent decline in unit sales, Murray said. He predicts two very flat years for new construction, existing home, co-op and condo sales.

"We are going to see some falloff with new agents who are not going to be able to afford to work in this profession unless they have great reserves, [while] better agents and the ones who built up a book of business will survive," said Paul Purcell, former president of Douglas Elliman and co-founder of brokerage Charles Rutenberg Realty.

It's too soon to say whether top producers' top-flight commission splits will be rolled back from 70 percent or above. Representatives at Elliman, Corcoran, Halstead and Brown Harris Stevens declined to comment on a potential shift.

One of Elliman's top brokers, Jacky Teplitzky, told The Real Deal that her commission structure and perks were unchanged despite a 30 percent decline in deal volume for 2008 from the previous year. After Elliman nixed its usual lavish holiday bash to save money, Teplitzky said she planned to host a holiday party for staffers at her home. She was, however, shifting compensation for some of the agents on her team to a performance-based model.

"I'm doing it by production. Before, it was a set number; now, it's going to be this amount until you reach this production, and this amount when you surpass it," said Teplitzky.

Although commission splits are among the biggest checks a brokerage firm writes, industry insiders say other cuts - such as advertising and reduced perks like messenger services - will come first. Targeting commission splits would alienate top brokers without necessarily boosting a company's revenue.

"If there's no business, it doesn't matter if you change their splits," said Purcell.

High commission splits are serving as lures for disenchanted agents considering moving to other firms. Fillmore Real Estate CEO John Reinhardt now lets producers reach a 70/30 split faster than in the past. Reinhardt is also adapting his template and discussing compensation deals individually.

Reinhardt said he was hearing from more high-producing agents than during flush times. On a single December day, he hired a dozen experienced agents despite closing down three branch offices last year.

"There's a shuffling going on," said Reinhardt. "The ones that are off are questioning their affiliation with existing brokerages more than they normally would, saying, 'It can't be me, it's probably my company,' [so] their ears are open and more interested in hearing what other companies are offering."

Top agents can expect to be wooed, but less experienced ones will likely find fewer job opportunities. As Corcoran and Edward Lee Cave officials denied online reports they were shuttering offices, other firms finished 2008 with fewer branch offices. Fillmore shut three Brooklyn locations - in Williamsburg, Park Slope and Flatbush - between May and November, saving about $50,000 a month. Brooklyn rental specialist Standard Living shut down its Williamsburg office in December, cutting several part-time jobs. The company's roster has fallen to 10 full-time staffers from a peak of 40 agents last summer.

"We had to consolidate to save money," said owner Andre Campodonico. "Everyone here now is a veteran."

All agents, from veterans to newbies, face closer scrutiny and have to produce. In November, Reinhardt instituted a new policy to ensure agents close more deals. Agents now receive text messages to their mobile phones after a customer makes an e-mail inquiry on Fillmore's Web site - and have 15 minutes to respond before the lead passes to a rival. "The industry norm is one to three days to never," said Reinhardt. "We need to be more productive."

Fillmore is offering more training sessions to help both veteran and less experienced agents. Reinhardt said cost savings from closing underperforming offices are helping offset a $150,000 increase in annual training costs. Classes are free for brokers, and underperformers have a window of three to six months to master necessary skills. "We will work on challenges, and if they can't do it, then we'll replace them with other agents," said Reinhardt.

 

Prices Plummet Dramatically

December brought proof that real estate prices are plummeting dramatically as New York City anticipates months of recession and job losses ahead.

According to the Federal Reserve Board's "Beige Book," which came out in December, prices of Manhattan co-ops and condos are reported to have fallen by 15 to 20 percent since mid-summer, confirming months of anecdotal evidence that sales prices had plunged.

Meanwhile, the discounts buyers expect are even larger, according to Paul Purcell, cofounder of Charles Rutenberg Realty.

"Buyers are looking for, in some cases, 30 to 40 percent off of what the price would have been a year ago for an apartment," he said. "They want real estate to mirror the loss in the Dow."

Sales volume, meanwhile, has continued to slow.

"The sales market is off tremendously compared to past years," Purcell said. "I would say overall in New York City, it has to be off by 75 to 80 percent." He also estimated that the number of rental transactions has fallen by 40 percent.

And, in another crushing blow to residential real estate, Fannie Mae informed the banking industry in December that it would raise the nationwide presale requirements for new co-op and condo buildings to 70 percent starting March 1, The Real Deal reported late last month.

The new 70 percent presale requirement is much higher than the current 51 percent, which will make it even more difficult for buyers to get mortgages, and spell certain doom for some new developments that have recently begun sales.

The move would "utterly destroy [the] New York [real estate market], and Brooklyn, for that matter, in the next six months," said Ross Weinstein, a managing partner at Union Square Mortgage Group.

In the face of these obstacles, pricing has taken on new significance, becoming the single most important factor in real estate transactions.

"Buyers are no longer willing to agree to the prices developers or sellers are asking," said Frances Katzen, a senior vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Purcell said even with properties that have reduced prices, they want to negotiate further. "They want to know they have hedged the price against future price declines," he said.

As a result, it's become crucially important for brokers to price properties according to what will sell.

"Some sellers still maintain their 'wish prices,' and some buyers think they can lowball anything," said Barak Dunayer, president of Barak Realty. "These gaps in expectations are now what brokers are paid to bridge, while before, brokers got paid for simply opening the door."

Max Dobens, an associate broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman, has termed his strategy "holy crap pricing."

"We are pricing apartments now where we expect them to be in February," he said. "The buyer then walks into the apartment and says, 'Holy crap, that's a great price,' and hopefully, they make an offer."

Buyers' perceptions that they're getting a deal is often more important than the price itself, said Dunayer, who recently listed a two-bedroom penthouse in Trump Place at 120 Riverside Boulevard for $995,000.

"We expect a deal to reach $1.6 to $1.7 million through multiple bids," he said. "There are already dozens of people calling during the first two days, and there is no way we would have gotten nearly as much traffic had we listed it closer to the actual market price."

Brokers said they're seeing a slight uptick in interest from potential buyers now that the initial shock of the Wall Street meltdown has worn off, but contract signings are virtually nonexistent.

"Every one of my buyers is on a 'wait and see' basis," said Ray Asis, an associate broker at City Connections Realty. "Those who actually view apartments in person respond by saying, 'I really like it, but let's wait and see what the market will be like in the next month or so."

With transactions so few and far between, inventory of available listings continued to grow steadily, jumping 4.4 percent from 9,494 in October to 9,916 in November, a 37 percent leap over the number of listings in November 2007, according to Jonathan Miller, the president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel.

In the face of the sales slowdown, many brokers are focusing on rentals, one area of the market that continued to show some activity as sales slow.

"Our rental business has been extremely busy," said Michael Signet, director of sales at Bond New York. "Tenants are either downsizing, or taking advantage of falling rental prices and upgrading. Either way, it translates into a lot of rental transactions."

Rents, however, have fallen a great deal. "Rents have gone down," said Adina Azarian, CEO of Adina Equities, "as much as 20 percent from last year, in some listings."

Rental vacancy continued its upward trend to 2.04 percent in November from 1.71 in October, according to Citi Habitats, while average rents fell from last month — in every category.


Here's a sample of what real estate professionals had to say about market conditions in response to The Real Deal's monthly Manhattan residential survey.

"Business in December is better than November. I think January may be better than we think." Deanna Kory, senior vice president and head of the Deanna Kory Team at the Corcoran Group

"I think the biggest change ... is that those people that are still in the market and still actively viewing homes are very serious, while we see very few window shoppers." Jeffrey Carlson, director of leasing, Platinum Properties

"Everyone is waiting for the prices to reset and people to get back in the game. But for now, enjoy your holidays, volunteer, be grateful for what you have (hopefully some money is left over from deals you did in the good old days) — and tell your sellers the bad news sooner rather than later." Gil Neary, president, DG Neary Realty

"The word on the street is that people are actually out there looking for a great deal. It's the best time to buy in 25 years. Prices are lower, selection is higher, interest rates are lower." John Reinhardt, president and CEO, Fillmore Real Estate

"There are so many buyers waiting and waiting. This demand has been building up since September. We expect first quarter '09 to be busy and very telling." Darren Sukenik, executive vice president, Prudential Douglas Elliman

 

Brokerages implementing new strategies as layoffs and cutbacks increase

It's no secret that every residential broker and firm in the city worth their commission check has been hunkering down and strategizing about how to deal with the new market conditions.

But now brokerages throughout the city — from the large corporate Manhattan-based firms to the small independent firms in the far reaches of the outer boroughs — are actually beginning to put those new strategies into effect.

Some are laying off employees or nixing holiday parties. Others are cutting budgets for advertising properties in print. And at least one firm is closing some of its satellite offices. Meanwhile, brokers who once worked exclusively in sales are taking on rentals to supplement their shrinking incomes.

The principals, founders and heads of several major residential firms told The Real Deal in this month's Q & A that they expect the brokerage work force in the city to shrink by anywhere from 10 to 30 percent during the downturn.

They say that brokers who "puff up prices" in order to win exclusives from sellers will be left in the dust and that brokers who entered the industry just a few years ago when deals were falling from the sky will have a harder time surviving than those who have lived through past bear markets and have more sophisticated skills in negotiating and shepherding tough deals.

One principal at a midsized firm said he expects New York City brokerages with national parent companies to suffer more because they are more exposed to the downturn more severely affecting the rest of the country. And while company heads said they don't see their brokers turning to second jobs now, one joked, "Ask me again in January or February."

Here's more on what the experts had to say about strategies for surviving the downturn and on their predictions for what's to come in 2009.


David Schlamm CEO/founder, City Connections Realty

What are you seeing in terms of layoffs and how much do you expect the city's brokerage workforce to shrink by?

We are not planning any layoffs right now, but I do believe that [the number of] brokers working will be reduced significantly starting at the end of the fourth quarter or in the first quarter of 2009.

Which brokers do you think will have the toughest time surviving this downturn?

The brokers in business since 2004-05 came in during one of the hottest periods and it was the easiest time to make money. They will have the toughest time if they don't totally change how they think and do business. I [think] the up-and-coming areas will be hit hardest so brokers in those areas will suffer more, specifically in Long Island City or parts of Brooklyn.

What is the biggest mistake that you're seeing brokers make right now?

Feeling sorry for themselves and not being proactive, both in my company and throughout the industry.

Has your brokerage closed any offices? Do you plan to consolidate operations in any way?

We have one very large office with 6,400 square feet. I had plans to open two or three more offices, but I'm putting that on hold until I feel we have hit the bottom. There are a few firms that have multiple storefront locations that are going to get hurt during this downturn.

How are brokers coping with the decline in deals? Are they working longer or fewer hours? Are any of them taking second jobs to make up for the lack of deals?

While I believe some may be hiding their heads in the sand and working fewer hours, those people will eventually end up leaving the business. In general, good brokers know they have to do it full time or not go to work, especially in a challenging time. So [they are not taking second jobs] yet. But ask me again in January or February.

Are you seeing more brokers who were exclusively working on sales now also take on rentals?

I haven't seen the switch so much here, but I have seen a huge increase in the amount of inquiries on our exclusive rental listings by the major sales firms in Manhattan.

Barbara Fox president, Fox Residential Group

Which brokers do you think will have the toughest time surviving this downturn?

Experienced brokers who have weathered prior downturns will know how to keep their business alive. I worry about those who, though successful, have had it too easy during the good times. Many brokers never understood how to really work for a deal — for instance, the need to learn sophisticated negotiating techniques. Those are the brokers who will have to relearn their profession.

What are the biggest mistakes you're seeing brokers make?

Not readjusting their strategy of doing business; not aggressively pursuing new ideas and creating innovative strategies to generate business; not being creative in finding buyers for the properties they are representing; and not being honest with their sellers with regard to pricing. Brokers got into bad habits over the past several years doing anything and everything to win exclusives, including giving bad pricing advice. Now it's the sellers' turn to wake up to reality and -understand that things aren't going to be improving over the next months. So if they're serious about selling, they're going to have to be more flexible in negotiations.

What kinds of changes are you seeing brokerages make when it comes to spending?

Fewer and fewer people are looking to the print media for real estate ads. Sellers like to see their property in print, but it pulls in little business relative to the money spent by the firms. It's certainly one way to cut major costs.

What is the impact on competition -between brokerages now that there are fewer deals?

The fierce competition is on hold now. Brokers are working together more to accomplish their goals.

Neil Binder principal, Bellmarc Realty

What are the biggest mistakes you're seeing brokers make today?

Catering to sellers and puffing sales prices in order to induce sellers to give them an exclusive.

Are companies eliminating services yet? Are they changing the allotment of -advertising money they'd normally give to brokers?

We have cut down our advertising a little. Firms that are very large, that have affiliations to national companies are subject to the severe downturn that is occurring nationally. Some of those are severely affected by the parent companies like NRT or Realogy — they own a number [of firms] in New York. If they are doing poorly in other markets, a firm in New York City may have to suffer the consequences.

What's the overall scene and mood like today in the brokerage world? Are brokers working longer or fewer hours? Are they taking second jobs?

We see our sales people coming in and working very hard. They may be frustrated by not being able to accommodate buyers and sellers, but they have to make a living so they're really working hard. I'm sure there are some who are working second jobs, but I never talk to my sales people about it. They would not tell me and I don't ask. I imagine there are some people who have to put bread on the -table and they will do what they have to do.

Are you seeing more brokers who were exclusively working on sales now also take on rentals?

I'd say a larger percentage [of our work] is rentals now because a lot of buyers are not interested in buying in the current market. The sales people go where opportunities lie and we are seeing that rentals are a large component of our business. We are predominantly a sales operation, but rentals have doubled in the last year. I don't know if the rental market has gotten broader or whether we're eating into it.

Kirk Henckels director of private brokerage, Stribling

What are you seeing in terms of layoffs and how much do you expect the city's brokerage workforce to shrink by?

We are not planning any layoffs, only minor cuts in advertising, so we are in an advantageous position relative to the larger firms. I have seen some pretty dramatic cuts in advertising at other companies. I think it's greater than 10 percent. I imagine there will be some cuts in staff levels as well. In terms of the number of brokers, I have a feeling the wheat will be separating from the chaff. [Still], I think our industry will fare better than Wall Street.

Have brokerages started eliminating services at all?

It seems to me that it is the really big ones and the really small ones [that are eliminating services]. The really big because of a lack of flexibility and the really small because they don't necessarily have the financial strength. So far in Manhattan, I have not seen any major decrease in services. In our business the first thing that is adjusted is advertising; that is the most flexible of the major overhead items. Some have cut back and all firms will cut back — it's a question of to what degree.

What's the overall scene and mood like today in the brokerage world?

It's a little like the stock market. One day you hear about a big deal being made, the next there are no sales. It's erratic … There is not enough empirical data yet to know what this new market is.

How are brokers coping with the decline in deals? Are they working longer or fewer hours?

I have seen it become much more professional — it isn't a second income anymore. The people that have established themselves will work harder. We all have to work harder. You don't find many part-time brokers anymore. The competition is too stiff.

Are you seeing more brokers who were working on sales now also take on rentals?

Brokers sell whatever they can and luxury rentals have gotten to a level where those commissions can't be ignored. I would -expect a high-end broker to take a high-end rental and be more inclined to do so than before for obvious reasons. There is only so much to go around so traditional rental brokers may have a little more competition from the sales side.

What is the impact on competition -between brokerages now that there are fewer deals?

I think certainly the competition for buyers has intensified more so than the competition for sellers. Competition has -increased for buyers, but it hasn't gotten ugly and I don't expect it to. Pricing in this market is extremely tricky because for sellers, the negotiating factor has changed so dramatically. Prior to the financial [crisis] the negotiating factor was a mere 2 to 3 percent, whereas buyers now expect more flexibility on the part of sellers and the market has not been redefined yet.

John Reinhardt CEO, Fillmore

How much do you expect the city's brokerage workforce to shrink by?

The real estate community has gone down and we are -expecting another 10 to 15 percent drop in the number of brokers a year from now.

Which brokers do you think will have the toughest time surviving this downturn?

I don't think it's specific to geography in the outer boroughs. We are doing well in the outer boroughs. The smaller brokers are worried about going out of business — they can't pay bills so that is attracting smaller brokers to our firm. I think it will happen in Manhattan as well as other areas. There will be a flight to quality. With the exception of niche markets, there will be a real movement of agents.

What are the biggest mistakes you're seeing brokers make in this down market?

Over-advertising in classified print mediums …We have cut advertising expenses in the last two years and the number of new customers is up 30 percent.

Has your brokerage closed any offices? Do you plan to consolidate operations in any way?

We have closed three local neighborhood offices five minutes from each other. We have kept the team merged into [the] closest office, but since some are leaving, there is room for the better-qualified agents. We were able to recognize that as times get a little bit tougher we have to work with fewer offices and can retain the same workforce. Other firms have started to merge, they are considering or have -already closed or consolidated in our area. I expect more of this to happen, and often they are joining us or joining firms like ours. Some successful brokers decided to open their own place and now they realize that they have to recruit, train and motivate all these people. They realized that they can get higher commissions without the risk and aggravation of paying bills, so they are coming back to us.

What's the overall scene and mood like in the business today?

Our agents are tougher and work harder. Some agents are taking it slow and using it as an excuse. If they take it easy they are going to be defeated. Some will jump to another career. We are training [brokers] in how to list properties, how to say no when it's overpriced, and how to be more selective with who they work with so they don't have to work twice as hard.

What about commission structures? Are they changing?

There is in an increase in commission structure to top agents. Part of our strategy is to attract the top agents … and [that includes] fees to top agents. The lower end is not getting a raise. We are getting tougher on the lower end, not giving the high splits unless they have minimum standards now like [taking more] classes in training and skill workshops to get to that next level.

What are firms doing to generate revenue in new ways now that sales volume is down?

We are more focused on our commercial department; it has doubled in size this last year and we have worked on our new -development division, which has grown 250 to 300 percent in the last year. We started a contract today on a great job in the Bronx with 1,800 co-ops. We opened an office in the Bronx at the beginning of this year.

Are you seeing more brokers who were exclusively working on sales also take on rentals?

We are a perfect example of that. We are rolling out a rental division.

Diane Ramirez president, Halstead Property

What are you seeing terms of layoffs and how much do you expect the city's brokerage workforce to shrink by?

There is no excess in our employment and, therefore, no layoffs will be made. Historically, the bottom 20 to 25 percent of the brokerage community will be lost in any serious [down] market.

What are the biggest mistakes you see brokers make in a down market?

To get caught up in the negativity and to forget that this is residential real estate — selling homes — and in all markets, some people will need to sell and/or buy. Agents must also be well-versed and knowledgeable about the art of negotiation. It's -essential in any market, but especially in tough ones.

Has your brokerage closed any offices? Do you plan to consolidate operations in any way?

We have not closed any offices and, in fact, we just opened one in Hoboken, New Jersey, and started an investment sales division. This is a time to look for opportunity in a fiscally sound way.

Barak Dunayer president, BARAK Realty

What are you seeing in terms of layoffs and how much do you expect the city's brokerage workforce to shrink by?

I have spoken with my fellow CEO/presidents and sadly I learned that many are laying off employees. I predict a 20 to 30 percent cut in the city's brokerage workforce and that much for agents as well. There just won't be as many transactions.

What are the biggest mistakes you see brokers make in a down market like this one?

The biggest mistake one can make in a market like this one is taking a break. We have not hit bottom and now is the time to strategize. All the managers at [our firm] actually started talking about this all the way back in January. One of our managers, because of the mortgage debacle, told all our agents that if you want to do 15 transactions this year, you must do 10 of them by June.

Are brokerages eliminating services yet? Are they decreasing advertising budgets?

We have looked into being even more -effective with our advertising. Even during a plush market, we minimized our print advertising since we know it was never effective and it was only to impress sellers. Now, because we want to hedge ourselves for tougher times, we have -decided not to have any print advertising whatsoever.

What's the overall mood like in the brokerage world right now?

Discouraging at best. Many have quit and many of my colleagues have let go of agents who are not producing. We have fought this off.

Are commission structures changing?

There will always be sellers who will try to negotiate our commission no matter what market we're in. In this market, however, sellers need us more than ever. We're already turning down listings if they're overpriced. This is a tough market to sell a property … In a market like this, our managers have actually spoken about perhaps charging a higher commission.

Real Estate Brokerage tapping into city's Spanish market

It's Not Brooklyn Without Canarsie

New Book Documents Jamaica Bay District                               By Henrik Krogius - published online 10-31-2008

In Thomas Wolfe’s 1935 short story “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn,” the narrator is dumbfounded when, on a platform of what is now the R line, he meets a man who wants to go to Bensonhurst simply out of curiosity to see what the various districts of this vast borough look like. The man is carrying, of all things, a map. Speaking in Wolfe's impression of the then prevailing Brooklyn accent, the narrator expresses his astonishment:

“Wit dat, he pulls it out of his pocket, an’ so help me, but he’s got it—he’s telling duh troot—a big map of the whole f------ place with all duh different pahts mahked out. You know—Canarsie am’ East Noo Yawk an’ Flatbush, Bensonhoist, Sout’ Brooklyn, duh Heights, Bay Ridge, Greenpernt—duh whole goddam layout, he’s got it right deh on duh map.”

Brian Merlis and Lee A. Rosenzweig have already done Bensonhurst, as well as Flatbush, Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, and more than a handful of Brooklyn's other storied communities. And now they’ve come out with Canarsie on Jamaica Bay: Brooklyn’s Last Village. As with their other books, they have collected a trove of vintage photographs to bring back the feeling of an earlier day, as well as bringing the history of the community up to date.

With Ira M. Kluger as historical consultant and Dr. Joy Holland as editorial advisor, Merlis and Rosenzweig summarize Canarsie's history from 1647, when, in the first recorded reference to it by that name, Canarsie was applied to the Canarsee Indians living there, possibly in a corruption of the French word canard, meaning duck. French trappers, seeing tattoos of ducks on the native inhabitants, are supposed to have referred to them as the duck people. Canarsie was the last section of western Long Island to be sold to Europeans, in a 1665 deed by the Canarsee to the Dutch. An early Dutch landmark was the Nicholas Schenck homestead built about 1775, which remained as a working farm until 1885, when the last Schenck in the line died without issue. After another family lived there into the 1890s, the house fell into disrepair. Efforts to restore it in the 1920s were set back when a 1923 gale blew off part of the roof; parts of the interior finally wound up installed in the Brooklyn Museum. A photograph in the book shows a group of apparently leading citizens in brimmed hats and overcoats soberly looking at the rather skeletal remains of the house in 1928.

Other photographs—of shops, of free-standing homes, of churches, of trolley cars, of vintage automobiles, of a white-clad patriotic assembly of women at Canarsie Beach Park in 1920—will bring back memories to older Brooklynites. There is an interesting 1923-24 photo of the raised Municipal Pier (later Canarsie Pier), which shows a small steamboat floating on a water level many feet above the sea level where two larger ships are seen. A startling ca. 1940 photo is that of a partly draped dead body in the Sand Pits with legs and an arm sticking out almost casually.

The historical account is not limited to the area’s more sentimental side but also discusses the ethnic and racial tensions that have arisen there in more recent decades, like the local Italian population resisting a Jewish influx in the 1950s and ‘60s, and the fire-bombing of Fillmore Real Estate after the agency had shown homes to prospective black home buyers. On a happier note, Canarsie in 2008 celebrated its resident Sadam Ali, a lightweight boxer, making the U.S. Olympic team.

Brooklyn-born Brian Merlis, now based in Freeport, Long Island, has been building up a photographic archive for years. He has published some books on his own, but most of them in collaboration with Lee Rosenzweig, who also has been amassing a collection. Together they have preserved an important and impressive part of the Brooklyn record. In his introduction to the present volume, Merlis recalls going with his mother in their shiny ‘64 Volvo to pick up his dad from work at the then new Canarsie High School, and making a “bumpy ride through semi-paved streets lined with lots broken by an occasional house whose ground floor was on what I had expected to be basement level.”

Business Leaders Head Back to School
Principals for a Day Become Partners for a Year

Besides being successful corporate leaders, what do Michael Boodro, editor-in-chief of Martha Stewart Living, and Frank Bisignano, chief administrative officer of JPMorgan Chase, have in common? In spite of bad economic times, Boodro and Bisignano, along with nearly 600 other CEOs, civic leaders and celebrities headed back to school recently to take their places as “Principal for a Day.”

Boodro and Bisignano were joined at the helms of schools in Brooklyn by Michael Fleisher, executive VP and CFO, Warner Music Group; Ivy Cohen, president and CEO, Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications, Inc.; Michael Cardozo, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York; John Reinhardt, president & CEO, Fillmore Real Estate and others.

Principal for a Day draws some of New York’s largest and most prestigious companies as well as small businesses, and serves as PENCIL's official kick-off for its successful Partnership Program. PENCIL works to transform New York City schools by creating long-term partnerships between the private sector and NYC public school principals.

“‘Principal for a Day’ is especially meaningful this year. Despite the current economic challenges, business leaders remain committed to our program. They recognize that in these uncertain times, we must continue to invest in our children,” said PENCIL President Michael Haberman. “The fact that each and every one of these ‘Principal for a Day’ visits will become a long-term partnership speaks volumes to the foresight of these business leaders.”

Principal for a Day is an opportunity for business leaders to initiate their yearlong relationships with their partner principals by shadowing them throughout the day and discussing ideas and initiatives for the school year. After greeting students, visiting classes and talking with school leaders during today's visits, the business and school leaders will develop projects to implement throughout the academic year.

The Influentials: Real Estate

The Neighborhood Changers
Building, blocking, brokering, they’re transforming the city piece by piece.

(1.) HARLEM
Willie Kathryn Suggs, Willie Kathryn Suggs Harlem Real Estate
Predicting another Renaissance, Suggs moved into Harlem in 1985, got to know her neighbors, and eventually matched hundreds of them with buyers willing to pay top dollar. She’s sold dozens of these houses many times over.

(2.) MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS/ WEST HARLEM
Lee Bollinger, Columbia University
The beast that ate upper Manhattan continues to grow, with a proposed Manhattanville campus that will include a neuroscience research center and a public math and science high school. Detractors may cry foul, but there’s no denying Columbia’s power to transform a neighborhood (see Morningside Heights).

(3.) TIMES SQUARE
Gary Barnett, Extell Development Company
He picks the uncanniest places for ultraluxe glass towers, but somehow it works. The Orion, just blocks from the not-so-pretty Port Authority, is a runaway hit, with fans posting obsessively about its progress online.

(4.) GREENWICH VILLAGE
Andrew Berman, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
He persuaded the City Council to stop a spate of “out of context” buildings in their tracks. Now he’s taking on NYU, determined not to let the university take over the neighborhood in its expansion.

(5.) LOWER MANHATTAN
Larry Silverstein, Silverstein Properties
He may be handing off reconstruction of the Freedom Tower, but he’s still got a lock on downtown with three towers he’ll build from scratch.

(6.) LOWER EAST SIDE
Jacob Goldman, LoHo Realty
The latest incarnation of the LES was kick-started by Co-op Village, a 4,500-unit housing project where Goldman has sold hundreds of apartments as cheap, cool alternatives to downtown.

(7.) WILLIAMSBURG
Louis Silverman, G4 Development Group
Decades from now, when the waterfront here is a thriving and—yes—expensive neighborhood, everyone will be wishing they’d gambled with Silverman. Back in the nineties, he bought tracts of land in north Williamsburg, placing bets on future rezoning that would have condo developers a-calling. He was right.

(8.) DUMBO
David Walentas, Two Trees Management
By cherry-picking merchants for his retail spaces and enticing artists with relatively low rents, Walentas, who owns the vast majority of the neighborhood, studiously crafted Brooklyn’s answer to Soho.

(9.) FORT GREENE
Pam Liebman, Corcoran
The biggest Manhattan-based broker in Brooklyn, Corcoran conquered Fort Greene way before the big firms paid attention to it. Any wonder the neighborhood is now considered prime?

(10.) PROSPECT HEIGHTS
Bruce Ratner, Forest City Ratner
When he’s finished replacing 22 acres of brownstone Brooklyn with the Atlantic Yards project, the borough will never be the same.

(11.) RED HOOK, MARINE PARK, SHEEPSHEAD BAY
John Reinhardt, Fillmore Real Estate
Its name may not be a brand, but Fillmore is the largest privately owned brokerage in the city, and the only game in town when it comes to the outlying parts of Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Space
Fillmore RE To Sell New Condo Development in Sheepshead Bay

New Condominiums Sign of Area’s Resurgence, Broker Says

By Linda Collins
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

SHEEPSHEAD BAY — A new European-style residential building is ready to launch sales on the waterfront in Sheepshead Bay.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony last week attracted Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz to join John Reinhardt, president and CEO of Fillmore Real Estate, the exclusive sales agent for Bay Breeze Bay Breeze is described as a high-end, European-style residence offering studios to penthouses at relatively affordable prices — from the low $200,000s to the $800,000 range.

“Bay Breeze’s Sheepshead Bay neighborhood is enjoying a renaissance,” said John Reinhardt, Fillmore CEO. “Proximity to the water, boating and fishing activities, and a plethora of fine shops and amenities make it one of Brooklyn’s most desirable communities.”

Signs of the area’s resurgence include the reopening of Lundy’s; the opening of Baku Palace, an upscale French and Russian restaurant; the addition of Loehmann’s at Seaport Plaza; and the annual BayFest along Emmons Avenue that has been attracting crowds of more than 100,000 in recent years, according to Reinhardt.

The development is a project of Emmons Coyle Realty LLC, with Marco Ricotta named as principal in Department of Buildings documents.

The architect is Bricolage Designs, a Brooklyn firm.

The complex itself offers substantial amenities like a private cabana club overlooking the water, with sauna and hot tubs; parking in an underground garage; and concierge and doorman service.

Each of the individual units has a Jacuzzi and washer/dryer and 90 percent of them have their own outdoor living space.

“We’re already receiving an overwhelming amount of interest from prospective buyers,” said Reinhardt. “Our pre-construction pricing phase sold out in just one week.”

For more information, please call (718) 891-3330.

Fillmore Thinks Out of the Box with New Partnership

Wall Street fear factor chills market

Job loss jitters, financing restrictions scuttle deals
By Lauren Elkies and Jovana Rizzo - from The Real Deal (ny.therealdeal.com)

  It's a tough time for buyers and sellers. With financial news headlines about Wall Street's meltdown ratcheting up the fear factor, both sides are cautious about plunging into the real estate market.

As a result of the turmoil, those who work at financial firms are backing out of deals because they are unsure of their job security. Meanwhile, sellers are seeing their units sit on the market longer and are pulling them off. Other buyers who want deals are holding out, thinking prices will come down further. And buyers who are willing to pull the trigger now face greater financial hurdles getting mortgages.

Many brokers said the worst is yet to come and do not expect the housing market to bounce back so fast. A number of brokers said they are not hopeful of a turnaround until third-quarter 2009.

"I think things will get worse before they get better," said Barak Dunayer, president of Barak Realty. "Buying power is diminished because of rising unemployment, more restrictive borrowing guidelines and less bonus money. Wall Street is driven by irrational fear right now, which may take until the November elections to calm down and stabilize."

Darren Sukenik, an executive vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman, said he was recently working with a Citibank employee who wanted to buy a three-bedroom condo in Tribeca. Sukenik said the typical financing for this home would have been between 70 and 80 percent before the credit crisis, but his client's bank only offered 45 percent financing, so the client was unable to buy the apartment.

As sales slow, one would expect inventory to grow.

"The recent troubles in the financial markets will further expand the sales inventory," said Cindy Gise, a vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman. "We may see as much as 20 percent additional inventory flood the Manhattan condo and townhouse market over the next six months."

So far, that hasn't happened yet, according to data from appraisal company Miller Samuel, which shows that inventory is actually shrinking in the city. Inventory of condos, co-ops and townhouses decreased between June and August. There were 6,423 total units on the market in August, including condos, co-ops and townhouses, down 5.5 percent from 6,796 in July. Between July and August, co-op inventory fell 7.5 percent to 2,819 from 3,046; condo inventory decreased 3.4 percent to 3,275 from 3,391; and townhouse inventory fell 8.4 percent, to 329 from 359.

As inventory decreased between July and August, so did sales. StreetEasy listed 1,131 Manhattan sales in August, down from 1,654 in July. The decreasing number of units on the market and slowing sales are a sign that sellers have been taking homes off the market. However, more recent data from September, received at press time, showed the inventory situation may be shifting.

Regardless, there are always buyers and sellers willing to take the plunge because they have to.

"The buyers/sellers who are in the market now are here because of the basics: birth, death, divorce and relocation," said Max Dobens, a vice president with Prudential Douglas Elliman and a member of the Jacky Teplitzky team. "The other recreational buyers are waiting to see what happens."

Rents in Manhattan fell slightly between July and August, according to Citi Habitats. The rental vacancy rose from 1.29 to 1.39 percent.

Landlords are offering more concessions, as fears mount that Wall Street renters won't be able to take new leases or renew their existing ones — or may even have to bail out on their current leases.

Rental concessions include free rent and owner-paid commissions. Landlords would prefer to offer concessions than lower rents so they can "maintain the high rents [they've] been getting for the past year and a half," said Douglas Wagner, president of Benjamin James Real Estate.


Uncertain times for the market

Buyers, sellers, lenders and brokers are all nervous or hesitant about the current market. Here is a sampling of what a number of brokers had to say about market conditions in response to The Real Deal's monthly Manhattan residential survey:

Anne Buckley, salesperson at Fillmore Real Estate: First-time home buyers are more hesitant. Sellers who bought high, but who want to sell, hesitate to put their home on the market thinking that the market will return to that of a few years ago.

Douglas Wagner, president of Benjamin James Real Estate: The condo market priced under $1.5 million is active. In the rental market, apartments priced under $4,000 are moving. The weakest part of the rental market involves landlord pricing not yet adjusting to consumer confidence levels.

Barbara Fox, president of Fox Residential Group: Brokers are generally nervous about economic conditions and how they will be affected. There are a lot of brokers who aren't busy now. These are the times that separate the successful and seasoned brokers from the pack.

Jon Varnedoe, associate broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman: Many lenders in new development now want to see that common spaces are completed before they will sign off on a loan. There are not many lenders for co-ops under 600 square feet. Knowing who is lending means knowing if the pre-approval letter you are holding means anything.

Michael Signet, director of sales at Bond New York Properties: Buyers want a deal, as always, and sellers want the prices they could have gotten eight months ago, although, we have seen more sellers lowering their prices than we have in recent history.

Cindy Gise, vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman: Another considerable compounding factor is going to be the lack of bonuses on Wall Street which may lead to less transactions and a further increase of inventory. The biggest opportunities will be in the "distressed debt" arena.

Jed Garfield, managing partner at Leslie J. Garfield & Co.: Buyers of townhouse properties are more hesitant due to the fact that until you are in the market north of $20 million, most individuals are putting some type of note on the property and the banks for these loans are much slower in making commitments.

by Brooklyn Eagle (edit@brooklyneagle.net), published online 10-07-2008
Brooklyn-Based Fillmore RE Expands To New Jersey

Fillmore Real Estate, a longtime family-owned residential real estate firm in Brooklyn, reports it is expanding to New Jersey.

The firm has established an off-site sales division at Southwyck Estates, a 200-home affordable housing complex in the heart of Newark’s Redevelopment Zone.

The off-site sales division is a partnership between Fillmore and Jordan Baris Inc. Realtors, a Northern New Jersey-based real estate company.

This type of alliance is a first for Fillmore, according to John Reinhardt, president and CEO, but a move he believes will lead to long-term, positive results for his firm.

“I met Ken Baris at a national real estate conference. He was interested in ways of attracting more buyers from New York to Southwyck Estates, rather than to competing developments. I, along with other Fillmore executives, researched the development, liked it, and formed a partnership with Ken’s company,” Reinhardt explained. “This is a new business concept for us, one that we hope to nurture with other developers and realtors.”

Fillmore will be holding free, on-site homeowner seminars in Brooklyn to help educate potential home buyers about financing options. The seminars will be held in a Southwyck home “modelette.”

 Sales Begin at Sheepshead Bay's Bay Breeze
Red Hook will have its mall (maybe), the Gowanus Canal will have its luxury/affordable complex (maybe), and now another Brooklyn waterfront claims new development. The folks at Bay Breeze, a "European-style luxury condominium" at 3165 Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, say the first 10% of their pre-sale releases have been snatched up, and now the rest of their 43 units are coming on the market. Condos range from $237,900 for studios to penthouses in the $800,000 area. FIOS and Jacuzzi tubs are cited as luxury amenities, along with the "Cabana Club" with gazebo, sauna and two whirlpools. Hot tubs and fresh fish, anyone?

Visit WebSite: The Bay Breeze

Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Wall Street and NYC Real Estate

New York City September 15 2008

What keeps the Big apple "Big" is the financial sector, two words: Wall Street. Now Wall Street is facing some of the darkest days in its history since the Great Depression. What impact will this have on NYC's fabled real estate market? Let's take a gander….

First some context; Lehman Brothers, a firm steeped in tradition and an American success story has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Here is a short history on Lehman; Lehman Brothers started in the 1800's by trading commodities such as cotton, and later moved into underwriting public offerings (IPO's). The names of their IPO's includes a list of American brand monoliths, such as Macy's, Sears, B.F. Goodrich and even Halliburton.  Lehman even survived 9/11 with the death of one sole employee. Then they moved their HQ to Times Square. Now almost 7 years to the day, Lehman has been dealt a mortal blow by the sub-prime mortgage industry collapse. For more history on Lehman look here.

To make potential matters worse, Merrill Lynch, the company, "Bullish on America" had to sell itself, to stay above water, to Bank of America. All this happened in New York City over the weekend, at meetings in the Federal Reserve building in downtown Manhattan. This just adds additional fodder to the recent news about Freddie MAC and Fannie MAE, and the 1Q news about Bear Stearns demise. Needless to say, the Financial World is in chaos at the moment, because of sub-prime lending and miscalculated risks. The names have not stopped here, as other famous names are being tossed around, in a sad game of "who's next?".

WOW.

In the last few years the country has been reeling because of the mortgage crisis. In some states, markets have dropped over 30%, yet New york City, specifically Manhattan has been bucking the downward trend. Why?

A large reason is because of the same two words: Wall Street. Jobs, fat bonuses, and high paying jobs raise the demand for high-end housing, condos, co-ops and rent, year over year. But this year, does not hold the promise of years past. I have many friends and some family that work in the NYC financial industry, and they are all nervous. The news from the TV's, and talk around the water-cooler, is not positive. People are nervous because bonuses are being cut, some are already losing them entirely. Now, when we (normal working stiffs) say "bonus", it may mean MAYBE 10% of our yearly salary. Well - in Wall Street, bonuses can hit the 7 figure mark, and administrative roles may see 20-30% of their salary in bonuses. So, when you "bank" on getting $30-$50K a year in bonus alone, and you hear you aren't getting it - spending habits change, investments change and deals get canceled. Fat bonuses, usually meant Fat Spending - one major area: Real Estate. So what does this mean for NYC real estate? Sadly, this kind of news, makes this writer think that the fairytale MAY be reaching an important turning-point.

This kind of news can really have ripple affects into other markets. Not just the financial markets, but job markets, technology companies, service industries, etc. When you consider the jobs alone in NYC that have been lost in the financial industry over the year, the numbers are frightening. To get more answers I went to some of NYC's top brokers to get their input: Brown Harris Stevens/Halstead, Prudential Elliman and Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy.

First to get back to us on how this will affect the local real estate market in NYC was David Michonski:

David Michonski, Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy:

"The impact will be mixed.  The worst thing about it is the tens of thousands of jobs that will be lost and their impact on all the boroughs. This affects not just Manhattan but Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx where 80% of these people live. It will mean fewer sales and surely more listings hitting the market.

Regarding Manhattan it will affect everything but [from] bars and restaurants to corner sandwich shops to Madison Avenue retail. The upper end housing market will be affected, too, as buyers put their hands in their pockets and wait. It should pressure prices as inventory sits not from flooding the market but from just staying on the market.  Every month that things don't move means another month when the inventory climbs.  We are not at critical inventory levels in Manhattan the way the rest of America is, but now the real possibility that we will get there increases daily.

On more positive notes, Manhattan is not as affected by foreclosures as the rest of the country because of our unique coop form of ownership which covers about 70% of the market.  Coop buyers had to put down 25% to 50% and some even all cash and have very high net worth to qualify for their coop boards. Thus,  these units are in the safest hands in America and while they are less safe today than they were yesterday,  there are still very many wealthy individuals in Manhattan who will ride out this storm.

New York still benefits from outstanding leadership in Mayor Bloomberg and from being a place that young people want to be and a place that Europeans and other foreigners still see as the most exciting place in America.  None of that has changed.  And that is fundamentally what will support this market. This is not 1974 when people were fleeing New York.  Rather, the more weakness that prevails, the more foreigners and well-heeled domestic buyers will come into the market.  We still suffer from a lack of developable sites and from a lack of housing, rather than a surplus and demographically the US is getting bigger, not smaller and the same holds true for New York. Remember the US is going from a nation of 300M people to 400M people. In order to accommodate all those people we have to build 1.6 to 2M units a year. Housing starts are now below 1M and still dropping.  In the years ahead we will have a real lack of housing (which seems so unlikely in today's environment, but is true) and all those people have to live somewhere.  When the smoke clears, many will continue to choose New York. "

Dottie Herman, CEO Prudential Elliman (over the phone interview): "No one knows exactly how it will shake out, you can read alot of speculation, but no one really KNOWS. But, looking at the fundamentals of New York City, and comparing this year  to 2007 (for most[NYC] companies one of the best years in history)…. I thought "why?" - well, the Euro, NYC is #22 in prices of global cities (good bargain still), as an international city prices are not off the wall…NYC is not a short term investment area, [buyers] need to have cash-in, and it's an island with limited space,  not a lot of land to expand upon, hence a limited commodity…. key differences between then and now, inventory is up now, last year, you had to move as a buyer, with everything going on this year, buyers are sitting back. It is really a credit crisis, not a real estate crisis. However, we have projected 2009 to be a slower year. This year the difference is credit and the buyer mentality. there is no "fear of loss on the buyers side, the sense of urgency is lost, people are going to the sidelines. I do not foresee a disaster. Many of these people made so much money that they are safe to sit in their units and not need to sell. Cash is king right now. You'll see new businesses and alot of private financing going around too.

Barbara Corcoran: "All bad news is contagious and so the financial woes of one big player ripple through other businesses.  The financial collapse is the quivalent of kicking the citys real estate market in the gut and things are going to be shaky for a while to come.
As always, when bad news hits, everyone runs for cover, particularly would-be buyers.  Most buyers will wait this one out on the sidelines.

The smart agents out there will be on the phone to their past clients tonight asking them if they want to cash out and trade down to a smaller ome or trade up and get a steal of a deal on a bigger place.  As always, listings are the road to riches."

 

John Reinhardt, Fillmore Real Estate:

AA "[There will be] a trickle effect throughout [the city]….expects Downtown Brooklyn to receive a "direct hit". [However] recovery will come soon…Sellers, must accept lower values, and he expects activity to be spurred by [the] need to cut excess and [shore] up finances, should be interesting [to watch] when the dust settles in a few weeks."

 

Terra Holdings  (Brown Harris Stevens/Halstead): Declined to comment stating that it is too early to tell what this could mean for the NYC real estate market. Does not want to speculate.

Credit crunch is slamming doors on many housing deals

BY LORE CROGHAN | DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, September 26th 2008, 11:05 AM

The Wall Street credit crisis has put many New York City residential real estate deals in jeopardy and scuttled countless others.

Real estate agents are seeing some purchases fall through because buyers can't get mortgages, John Reinhardt, CEO of Fillmore Real Estate, said Thursday.

SEE ALSO: LONGTIME STUYVESANT TOWN, PETER COOPER RESIDENTS FACE CHANGE

"Banks are so cautious," he said. "Everybody's afraid more than normal - both buyers and sellers."

Neighborhoods where banks have tightened their lending practices are showing high foreclosure rates, including Canarsie, East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick.

SEE ALSO: THESE NEW YORKERS HAVE BEST PERK OF ALL: FREE HOMES

As a result, sale prices in those areas have dropped 20% from a year ago, Reinhardt said. In other parts of Brooklyn, prices are down 15% to 20%.

Buyers facing serious problems include those who signed purchase contracts a year or two ago at condo developments under construction in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

The homes are ready for occupancy and the buyers "have nonrefundable deposits at stake," said Melissa Cohn, CEO of Manhattan Mortgage Co.

These buyers face potential losses because they already put down 20% - and banks are demanding they pony up an additional 10% as security.

When buyers initially lined up their deals, reasonably solid credit scores of 650 were sufficient to qualify them for prime mortgages. Now they need scores topping 700. Some must find co-signers to get loans.

Bush, the Bill and Economy - Lawmakers Agree in Principle on Plan, but is Relief in Sight?

Lawmakers reached an agreement in principle Thursday on a bipartisan counterproposal to the Bush administration's $700 billion financial bailout plan, after a two-hour negotiating session between Democrats and Republicans.

Details of the plan were not immediately released, however the announcement came just hours before Presidential hopefuls Senators Barack Obama and John McCain were to meet with President Bush and congressional leaders on the issue.

It was reported that Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said following the meeting, "We are very confident that we can act expeditiously." A vote within days was expected.

Here's a look at some of the critical issues on lawmakers' minds yesterday.

The Lowdown

One key was a compromise struck early in the day in which the White House agreed to a provision that would cap executive compensation for companies that take advantage of the Treasury Department's offer to purchase distressed mortgage-backed assets and other securities.

In his Wednesday evening primetime address, Bush tried to win over Americans infuriated at tossing a $700-billion lifeline to Wall Street megabuck moguls-saying the alternative is a Depression-style "financial panic" of lost jobs, bank failures and plunging home prices.

"Our entire economy is in danger," Bush said in a rare prime-time address designed to whip up support for his beleaguered Wall Street bailout plan. "Ultimately our country could experience a long and painful recession."

He spelled out “a distressing scenario” — “more banks could fail, including some in your community. The stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet. Foreclosures would rise dramatically. … More businesses would close their doors, and millions of Americans could lose their jobs,” Bush said.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson caved in to angry congressional demands that the pay of Wall Street bigwigs should be limited if their firms receive any bailout money from taxpayers. The latest concession by Paulson, the former Goldman Sachs chief executive who had previously resisted restrictions on CEO pay, could make it easier for lawmakers to vote for a final and historic $700 billion federal intervention to keep the nation’s financial system from collapsing.

Timing Is Everything

There were signs, too, of some movement on a Democratic proposal that would give the government an equity stake in companies that take advantage of the Treasury program.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike said late Wednesday that it remains possible the details of a final bill could be finished by the end of the week, although sticking points remain.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he remained optimistic congressional negotiators could reach a compromise — but said Bush must do much more to bring in conservative Republicans who have been the plan’s harshest critics, with some comparing the bailout to “socialism.”

“What he really has to do is roll up his sleeves and get some of the Republicans to compromise on issues like helping the homeowner, helping the taxpayer and providing real oversight,” Schumer said.

"We're not there yet, but we’re getting there, and there's a good possibility we’ll get there in the next day or so," Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and a broker in negotiations with the administration, said after meeting with Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday night.

Paulson and Bernanke again spent much of their day attempting to firm up support for the plan amid withering criticism from members of both parties. The pair said the program was necessary to jump-start the healthy flow of credit throughout the nation’s financial system.

Testifying before a joint House-Senate committee, Bernanke used more apocalyptic language in describing the risk to the nation’s economy than he had the previous day, saying the country was facing “grave threats” to its financial stability.

He said the failure to pass a bailout bill would "affect spending and economic activity and it will cause the economy as a whole to decline and be much weaker than it otherwise would be."

While the administration has shown some flexibility on the package, key battles remain to be fought. One involves judicial review of the Treasury Department’s actions. Another concerns giving bankruptcy judges the power to adjust mortgages to make them more affordable to stave off foreclosures for homeowners, an action known as a "cram-down."

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) told CNBC Wednesday night that he considered that provision a "poison pill" for Republicans that could stall a final agreement.

What about American Homeowners?

During its board of directors meeting in San Diego, the leadership of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) unanimously called on Congress to act now before conditions deteriorate to a point that could trigger a global financial meltdown.

"We agree with Fed Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson that immediate steps need to be taken to stem the financial crisis. The financial markets are in turmoil and the flow of credit has been severely curtailed for housing and other sectors of the economy,” said NAHB President Sandy Dunn, a home builder from Point Pleasant, W.Va. “There’s no time to waste. Congress must pass legislation as soon as possible."

A proposal by congressional Democrats to help keep people in their homes by allowing bankruptcy court judges to rewrite troubled primary mortgage loans could overwhelm court caseloads, spark lawsuits by banks who might claim judges have too much power and further destabilize the housing market, lawyers and others involved in bankruptcy cases said Wednesday.

The legislation is being promoted by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and others, who want it to become a part of Congress’ overall package to bail out the nation’s financial institutions.

The Bush administration has proposed a $700 billion bailout, but Democrats and some Republicans have said they may not go along with the proposal unless homeowners are also helped.

Under current bankruptcy laws, primary residence mortgage debt is not included in the bankruptcy process, although bankruptcy judges can restructure a debtor’s vacation home or investment property.

Changing the law could overwhelm the already crowded calendars of the bankruptcy courts, said Anthony Sabino, a bankruptcy lawyer in Mineola. "It could very well become overwhelming," he said.

Still, he said, the measure should be tried. "Something has to get done" to help people in foreclosure.

One problem Sabino said he could foresee is that banks and other lenders may file suit against the government, saying the law gives bankruptcy judges too much power. "This could bring a flood of litigation."

"We encourage lawmakers to immediately enact the Treasury proposal to purchase troubled assets," said Real Estate Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer. "There are serious details that need to be worked out in implementing the plan and the price tag may seem high. However, negotiation over the details cannot unduly slow the process. The cost of not acting now would be far higher."

According to the Real Estate Roundtable, real estate directly and indirectly generates economic activity equivalent to about 20 percent of GDP. It creates some 9 million jobs and generates millions of dollars in federal, regional and local tax revenue. Commercial real estate markets remains in relative equilibrium today, with industry supply and demand much stronger than in previous downturns. Yet, credit to the sector from many sources has almost completely stalled. “For owners, and for Main Street, this means property values are at risk of a freefall. For state and local governments, it means less revenue from commercial property taxes and an even tighter budget crunch. What happened to values in the residential market could very well happen on the commercial side - something which we can take steps to prevent,” said DeBoer.

Yesterday, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a letter to Congress that it opposed any such legislation.

"Changing these rules will inevitably raise the cost of credit," the association said. "In addition, changing the rules will further destabilize the market, as lenders will immediately have to further mark down the value of their mortgage portfolios to reflect the predictable additional new principal losses to which companies will be exposed. This will result in further instability in the market for both consumers and financial institutions."

Gary Kusher, who heads the bankruptcy practice at Forchelli, Curto, Schwartz, Mineo, Carlino and Cohn in Mineola, questioned whether such legislation expanding the power of bankruptcy judges would be constitutional.

"It would interfere with a private contract," Kushner said.

However, Dan Greenwood, a law professor at Hofstra University, said he doubted such legislation would create a manpower problem for the courts.

"Most of these cases will settle," Greenwood said. "Once it’s clear the judges have the authority to renegotiate mortgage loans like everything else, people are likely to come to agreement in the shadow of the law."

Jack Graves, a law professor at the Touro Law Center, said if something like the Democrats' proposed legislation had been done a year ago, "we wouldn’t have had to bail out the financial institutions now."

Democrats attempted to pass similar legislation earlier this year, but the attempt failed against Republican opposition.

Is Bailout a Housing Ills Panacea?

"There is a lot of talk about how some institutions - most recently AIG - are just too big to be allowed to fail. That may be true. But this country is made up of millions of small homeowners who can't be allowed to fail either," said Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, during a press call with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, AARP, ACORN, and the Center for Responsible Lending.

One such homeowner, Candace Weaver of Wilmington, NC, also participated on the call. Weaver is a middle school social studies teacher and mother of two who was diagnosed with kidney cancer within a year of getting a Lehman Brothers-backed exploding ARM loan. She needed surgery to remove the cancer and contacted her mortgage servicer and asked for a one-month deferment, which they rejected. Weaver’s cancer is in remission, but her home is now in foreclosure. She is one of the more than half a million Americans who could avoid foreclosure if Congress passes the rescue bill with bankruptcy provisions intact.

"The government is bailing out the companies who did the wrong things in making these poisonous loans that were doomed to fail. I understand the bailout had to happen but unless something is done to help struggling homeowners, people like me are left out and we’re the victims. It's not fair. The government needs to remember people like me who pay taxes and work hard every day. All we want is to get up and go to work, contribute to our communities, and keep our homes," said Weaver.

On Wednesday, The National Association of Realtors said the median price for existing homes fell 9.5 percent in August to $203,100 — the largest price decline recorded since 1999. In the wake of these gloomy home sales statistics, builders and real estate agents have begun to debate whether the government’s $700 billion financial industry bailout will end the slide.

"Responsible government intervention will restore a functioning market benefiting homeowners, those who wish to buy a home, financial institutions, the economy and ultimately the taxpayers," said National Association of Realtors® President Richard F. Gaylord in a statement. "We support efforts to stabilize financial markets to allow rational valuation of assets, expedite refinancing and relief efforts for homeowners, and other measures to reestablish a level of confidence in the housing credit markets. NAR will work diligently with Congress and the administration to achieve these goals as well as the broader goal of reforming the housing finance system."

Many analysts believe the housing industry is being slowed by homeowners' difficulties in getting mortgages. The expectation, then, is that a federal stabilization plan for banks will get money flowing again and stop the national slide in property values.

Many economists, including NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, believe tight credit is killing potential home sales. Realtors, including Varley, say the impact of tight credit is being felt locally, too.

Robert Blackman, vice president of development for Realty USA in Clifton Park, said many prospective buyers are discouraged by the hurdles required for a mortgage. And recent Wall Street gyrations have not helped either, he said.

"They're almost defeated before they begin," Blackman said. "Hopefully, something will happen in Washington that will … take some of the pressure off."

Some analysts, including Yun, predict the federal takeover this month of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could make credit more available, because the agencies tightened the money flow when their future was in doubt.

Others caution that it’s risky to pin hopes on the $700 billion bailout until final details emerge. The bill is the subject of heated debate in Congress.

Many Democrats want it to include help for homeowners facing foreclosure.

"That would attack the root of the problem," said Marisa DiNatale, senior economist at Moody's Economy.com, a research firm in Philadelphia. "We're seeing record numbers of foreclosures, and it’s just adding to the supply of homes on the market."

Still, uncertainty about the economy could hurt real estate sales, no matter what Washington does. Surveys of consumer confidence showed people were skittish about spending money even before the recent Wall Street chaos.

"People in general have been more pessimistic about the (prospects for) the economy over the next year or so," DiNatale said. "People might not be willing to jump back into the housing market."

Some in the housing industry had hoped the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, passed by Congress earlier this year, would kick-start home sales. The bill provides up to $7,500 in new tax credits to first-time home buyers who purchase before July 1, 2009.

But the bill hasn't boosted sales, perhaps because it requires that buyers repay the tax savings within 15 years.

"The tax credit just wasn’t strong enough," said Pam Krison, executive officer of the Capital Region Builders and Remodelers Association, a trade group.

What Americans Are Saying

- 55% Say it's not the government's responsibility to bail out private companies with taxpayer dollars, even if their collapse could damage the economy
- 45% Say Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama would do a better job handling the financial crisis than Republican John McCain (33%)
- 80% Say the U.S. is going in the wrong direction

ABOUT THE POLL: The Sept. 19-22 telephone survey of 1,428 adults nationwide had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Copyright © 2008
Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, Newsday, Albany Times Union
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Dyker Heights 'Mansion': Yours for $2 Mil


Should you be keen on calling Dyker Heights home but are of slightly more modest means than the buyer who paid $2.5 million for the priciest spread to changed hands in Brooklyn last week, take a gander at the listing that landed in our inbox yesterday (subject line: "Brooklyn Mansion"). The 5,800-square-foot house is described as follows: "Architecturally breathtaking, this custom four bedroom, three and a half bathroom, center-hall Colonial in desirable Dyker Heights, perfectly captures the essence of the modern living with an expansive foyer with its impressive wedding staircase, high chandelier and imported Italian marble flooring. The adjacent east-wing has a home office, full bathroom and guest room....the sprawling finished basement boasts a lavish underground pool fitted with skylights and a relaxing veranda. French doors lead to the custom wet-bar and game room that's perfect for entertaining in this in-door paradise." All for a mere $1,999,000.

RISMEDIA, August 8, 2008 - Howard Witz, an associate broker with Fillmore Real Estate, one of New York City’s largest privately owned and operated residential real estate firms, is a featured panelist at RISMedia’s Leadership Conference 2008. At this high-level networking and education event for real estate and relocation leaders, Witz will discuss “The ABCs of Forming a Winning Agent Team” on Thursday, September 4.  The 75-minute seminar will begin at 1:30 pm. The Leadership Conference will take place at New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel located on Madison Avenue at 45th Street. 

“This panel is a great opportunity for me to share what I’ve learned as a successful team leader,” says Witz, a senior real estate specialist and the senior director of The Fillmore Fusion Team, which was formed when Fillmore purchased the listings of a bankrupt Foxtons. “Creating a team takes time and patience,” he notes. “The presentation will show brokers how to build a strong team and what pitfalls to avoid.” 

For additional information on “The ABCs of Forming a Winning Agent Team” or to register, visit http://www.rismedia.com/events/leadership-conference.

Luxury, Brighton Beach Style

Here's what you can get in Brighton Beach for the price of a historic brownstone: A penthouse condo at the Oceana complex. Oceana is a gated community with amenities like a fitness center and indoor and outdoor pools. $2 mil will nab you the 2,200-sf unit pictured above, which has three bedrooms and two baths. Common charges = $1,400. According to StreetEasy, this listing doesn't even represent the most expensive unit in the development, which is made up of seven buildings: That honor goes to a $2.7 million penthouse that's also on the market.

RISMEDIA, June 2008 - It’s a basic concept: the more listings you have, the more money you’ll make. But what it takes business-wise to make that a reality is another story. Find out what Michael Geraci and his team at Fillmore Real Estate in the New York City area are doing to use the team concept to maximize their profits.

Michael Geraci
Fillmore Fusion Team
Fillmore Real Estate
Years in real estate: 5
Years as an agent team: 3
Number of team members: 25

Region served: Most of New York: Brooklyn, Staten Island, Westchester County, Queens and the Bronx
I formed an agent team because….We wanted to split up the roles. Traditional agents do everything. We wanted to specialize instead of doing it all and the best way to do that seemed to be to form a team and have three specialties: buyer’s agents, seller’s agents and business development agents.

Does having a team help maximize profitability?
Absolutely. That’s one of the biggest reasons behind having our team: when you have agents specialize in one area they can maximize their usage. In the long run, as more properties are sold and more listings are taken, you are going to make more money.

How have you grown your team over the years?
Before stepping into the management role, I was an agent. I love teaching and passing on everything that I have learned. Also, I am still very hands-on showing agents the ropes and teaching them on a daily basis.

How do you compensate team members in order to treat their position within the team as a long-term career?
That’s part of the fusion idea. Many people on the team are paid in the traditional manner with a 50-50 split. When the business development agents come into the equation, they make what amounts to a referral fee.

How do you market and brand your team as its own business entity?
We use all of the traditional forms of marketing: flyers, mailings and website marketing. As more and more transactions occur the word spreads. So word of mouth is big for us.

Do you have a mission statement or team guidelines for all to follow?
We are a very close-knit group-like a family. Buyer’s agents know their role is to have a full day and to show as many houses as possible. Same thing with the seller’s agents. They know they are supposed to be out there meeting, making contacts and growing their sphere of influence. And for the homeowner, they feel like they have more than just one agent working for them, so it’s a good feeling.

What percent of your budget is dedicated to marketing?
Our marketing is dependent on our monthly gross commissions and then 6% of all monthly gross commissions goes toward marketing. We spend almost all of that 6% on selling the properties. We know that 83% of home buyers use the Internet, so we rely heavily on online marketing. We are moving away from print.

Success Strategies Best way to inspire the team:
Most individuals are inspired by money. But I don’t like to do it that way. It’s all about who you know. When you are a veteran in this business, you are bound to do well. I try to create a long-term picture for the agents I work with.

The most difficult client you have to deal with: a homeowner who has his mind fixed on prices that were from two years ago. The market has come down in the last 18 months by about 12%. So the person who is not adapting to the market changes and will not let go is always the most difficult to deal with. It’s our job to educate them on the reality of the market.

The key to successful recruiting:
In any industry, it’s creating an environment where someone is motivated to work. We are a family-oriented company. We are known as a family company. It’s showing agents that the company is continuing to grow and has a solid reputation. With growth comes opportunity.

Describe your relationship with your broker: It’s a great relationship. We are the first team to work out of headquarters. I work one floor down from the owner of the company.

One thing your team can’t live without: a constant stream of leads.

Philosophy for a successful life in real estate: Love what you do. I have an extreme passion for this business. If you have the love and the passion you will be successful.

-Lesley Geary

Check out Mill Harbor, which is selling itself as “resort living” in Bergen Beach and is having a $50,000 off sale through June 10. It bills itself as Brooklyn’s first gated community, offering “resort living” with “Manhattan-type amenities” and “European-inspired residences.” We thought Seagate was fairly gated, but Mill Harbor is not to be missed.

New York Daily News Real Estate Section - Special Spring Issue of "Your Home"

Brooklyn: Trees & Opportunities Grow There
By Jason Sheftell


Mill Harbor - Bergen Beach

In March, a fire at Bergen Beach’s Favorite pizza joint rallied the entire community.

“Everyone chipped in some money to help out the owner,” says John Reinhardt, a 30 - year Bergen Beach resident and the head of Fillmore Real Estate.

The Brooklyn real estate outfit in charge of sales at Mill Harbor. “ This is still a New York neighborhood where everyone knows each other.”

A 10 - block waterfront community saddled between Mill basin and Georgetown, Bergen Beach has a sizable Italians, Russian and Orthodox Jewish communities who all get along.

At Mill Harbor, a new development at Royce St. and Avenue T, nurses and fashion designers - bought two bedrooms for $549,000. A pool, clubhouse, on-site parking and a nearby boat dock are among the amenities at this Brooklyn Condo.

 Affordable prices for homes on ocean | Barbara Corcoran's column

 Friday, February 15th 2008, 4:00 AM
 
The train station in Manhasset - just 35 minutes to Penn Station.

Q. I've saved up a big down payment and I have excellent credit. I would like to purchase a home on the ocean, and I've been thinking about Manhattan Beach or Belle Harbour, Queens. Do you think home prices will become more affordable, or should I get in now?

A. I spoke with John Reinhardt, the very handsome owner of Fillmore Real Estate in Brooklyn. He told me that Manhattan Beach, just down the road from Brighton Beach and Coney Island, is still very expensive. Homes there sell for about $2 million, and the fancy ones on the water sell for over $5 million.

There are a handful of lower-priced homes under $1.5 million, but people are chasing them like a pack of hungry wolves, so prices won't be going down anytime soon.

There are lots of buyers combing the beach blocks in Belle Harbour, where prices start at $1.5 million and sell for as much as $3.5 million (and possibly even more) on the water.

So if you're willing to put on your flip-flops and walk a few blocks to the beach, you'll find a cheaper deal. But don't wait for the warm weather or you'll be fighting the crowds at the height of competition.

Q. I am looking to buy a one-family home on Long Island. Can you recommend an area that's half an hour from the city with good schools and low taxes?

A. The town of Manhasset is just a 35-minute train ride away and has good schools, small classes and ample funding for students. The taxes there are lower than most towns on the island, about 4%-6%.

Also, South Valley Stream is 40 minutes away, and has even cheaper taxes, around 2%. It also has good schools.

You can find out detailed school information for free at a number of Web sites, including www.schoolmatters.com and www.schooldatadirect.org.

Q. My parents aren't U.S. citizens, but they visit my brother and I a lot, and they would like to buy a three-bedroom vacation property in northern Virginia. I don't believe they have any established credit in this country and they can afford a down payment of only about $80,000. Do they have a chance in the market?

A. In northern Virginia, three- to five-bedroom homes on a quarter acre sell from $350,000 to $400,000. With a 15%-20% down payment, your parents should have no problem buying one.

Living in | Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
Elegance Is Abundant; Groceries Are Less So

Published: March 23, 2008

To brokers, at least, Clinton Hill’s eastern boundary is fluid. Anne Buckley, an agent with Fillmore Real Estate, says the border is inching toward Bedford-Stuyvesant, with prices on Classon and Franklin Avenues comparable to those at the heart of Clinton Hill.

For example, a recent condo development called Lofts on Lex is being marketed as Clinton Hill but lies just outside, in Bedford-Stuyvesant. A penthouse duplex there is listed at $999,000. “Bed-Stuy is the next wave,” Ms. Buckley said.

The Clinton Hill Co-op constitutes one of the neighborhood’s most populous housing options. Its 12 dark brick ’40s-era buildings are divided into two campuses on Clinton Avenue: one between Myrtle and Willoughby Avenues, the other at Lafayette Avenue. With the exception of one 7-story building, they rise 12 to 15 stories. John Dew, the president of the board of directors, said the 1,221 units house about 3,000 people. He added that many longtime tenants live in rent-stabilized apartments, though there are now few rental opportunities.

In the shadows of these towers, however, dwells a mostly low-rise area. Last July, the City Council adopted a rezoning plan for Fort Greene and Clinton Hill intended to preserve their brownstone character, in response to an increase in “out of context” development.

The pride of the neighborhood is Clinton Avenue and its row of mansions, as well as St. Joseph’s College. At one time the avenue was a premier address, said Robert Perris, district manager of Community Board 2. Street signs erected by the Landmarks Preservation Commission inform passers-by that “Clinton Hill is representative of an upper-class urban neighborhood and streetscape of its day.” This quality is most charmingly hinted at in the carriage houses along Waverly Avenue.

WHAT YOU’LL PAY

Condos and co-ops average about $500 per square foot, brokers say. Double duplex brownstones command from $1.2 million to $3 million, on average, depending on condition, according to Ms. Buckley. She added that rentals average $1,600 to $2,000 for a one-bedroom and upward of $1,800 for a two-bedroom. Three-bedrooms are rare, she said, but demand is growing.

Two-bedroom two-bath condos in the Azure start at $599,000. The Clinton Hill Co-ops average $350,000 to $400,000 for a one-bedroom and $450,000 to $490,000 for a two-bedroom, Mr. Dew said. He spoke excitedly of the area’s retail revitalization, but acknowledged, “A number of residents have been priced out.”

WHAT TO DO

The Society for Clinton Hill, which once led a house tour yearly, now does so every other year. (The next will take place in May 2009.) The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Afro-Punk music festival, which had its debut a few summers ago, will return to Clinton Hill this year. The area is known for churches like Queen of All Saints, a French Gothic structure on Vanderbilt Avenue. And the local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library is on Clinton Avenue.

Fort Greene Park — next door to Clinton Hill — is beloved by many residents. And Brooklyn Flea, a new market showcasing local vendors, will start on April 6 and continue each Sunday at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, a block away in Fort Greene.

THE COMMUTE

The C and G subways serve the area. Both stop on Washington Avenue; the G also stops at Classon Avenue.

Bus lines include the 54, along Myrtle Avenue, and the 52 along Greene Avenue. The 69 runs north-south along Vanderbilt Avenue, shuttling passengers to and from Prospect Park.

THE SCHOOLS

Elementary schools include Public School 11, Purvis J. Behan. It received a “proficient” grade in the city’s 2007-8 Quality Review Report. Last year, 79 percent of its fourth-graders met state standards in English and 95 percent in math, versus 62 and 74 percent citywide.

Of eighth-graders at Satellite Three, on Gates Avenue, 37 percent met state English standards and 34 percent in math, versus 46 in each citywide.

High school students at Benjamin Banneker Academy who took the SAT last year averaged 450 in reading, 458 in math and 447 in writing, versus 441, 462 and 433 citywide.

Fillmore Bucking Trend and Watches Sales Go Up
Wednesday June 25, 2008

Fillmore Real Estate, the city's largest privately-owned and operated residential real estate firm announced a 7.5% increase in sales for May 2008 over May 2007, the third consecutive month of growth for the firm

March sales figures were up over 24%, and Apri112% over last year's numbers. Overall sales for the past three months are up 14.6%

“We’re going against the grain,” said John Reinhardt, President and CEO of Fillmore. “ We are enjoying one of our strongest periods in a market that is much softer than in previous years.”

Last year Brooklyn-based firm purchased 1,400 listing held by the now - bankrupt Foxtons. According to Reinhardt, “The purchase was the equivalent of meeting our two year growth goals in two days.”

Fillmore hired dozen of Foxtons top-producing agents and opened satellite offices throughout the five boroughs, Long Island and Westchester. The company has also entered the development field. Its Mill Harbor and MeadowWood projects in Bergen Beach and East New York, respectively, have been extremely successful. In a partnership with Taconic, 23 Fillmore agents acted as the exclusive sales broker for the 1,152 - unit complex at MeadowWood, the largest condominium development in Brooklyn. The company also had a huge success selling out Seaview Estates in Canarsie.

“Our goal is to be aligned with top builders, and attract the leading local talent to come on board,” said Reinhardt, “and to the end, we’re aggressively recruiting and training agents to understand the nuances between selling units in developments and residential sales.”

Fillmore Real Estate Celebrates Market Strength with 3 Months of Consecutive Growth

RISMEDIA, June 19, 2008-Fillmore Real Estate, one of New York City’s largest privately owned and operated residential real estate firms, announced a 7.5% increase in sales for May 2008 over May 2007, the third consecutive month of substantial growth for the firm. March sales figures were up over 24%, and April 12% over last year’s numbers. Overall sales for the past three months are up 14.6%.

“We’re going against the grain,” says John Reinhardt, president and chief executive officer of Fillmore. “Unlike many other brokerage firms, we are enjoying one of our strongest periods in a market that is much softer than in previous years.”

One of the reasons for Fillmore’s strength has been its diversification. Last year the Brooklyn-based firm purchased over 1,400 listings held by the now-bankrupt Foxtons, a discount brokerage firm. “The purchase was the equivalent of meeting our two-year growth goals in two days,” notes Reinhardt. “But the opportunity was too great to pass up, and we’re already reaping quite substantial benefits.”

According to the company, Fillmore hired dozens of the Foxtons top-producing agents and opened satellite offices throughout the five boroughs as well as Long Island and Westchester. “By expanding our footprint we’ve become a regional powerhouse,” Reinhardt noted.

The company has also diversified by getting into development projects. Its Mill Harbor and MeadowWood projects in Bergen Beach and East New York, respectively, have been extremely successful, attracting buyers from across the city and generating media attention from The New York Daily News to Crain’s New York Business to Brownstoner.com. Fillmore Development is aligned with top developers including Taconic and Parkmore.

In the Taconic partnership, 23 Fillmore agents acted as the exclusive sales brokers for the 1,152-unit complex at MeadowWood, the largest condominium development in Brooklyn. The company also had a huge success selling out Seaview Estates, an affordable development in Canarsie, where apartments which sold for $196,000 in 2003 are now going for $360,000.

“Our goal is to be aligned with top builders, and attract the leading local talent to come on board,” adds Reinhardt, “and to that end, we’re aggressively recruiting and training agents to understand the nuances between selling units in developments and residential sales.”

Another reason for Fillmore’s success, says the company, is its investment in technology to enhance a home buyer’s experience with the firm. The newly-upgraded website, www.fillmore.com, receives two million hits every month, and has many innovative features. The Prospect Management System is a Web-based tool which allows agents to maintain close communications with their clients, while the AgentDashboard extranet, an integrated online system, gives Fillmore agents unparalleled access to prospects, properties, company news, marketing materials, and much more.

At the Fillmore site, home buyers can save properties, check out recently-viewed listings, set up automatic notification for new listings and search for open houses. Through tracking the click-streams of customers and examining profiles completed on MyFillmore, the company is continuously learning about the buying patterns and habits of its customers.

In the future Reinhardt plans to enhance the Fillmore website to offer clients listings based on preferences, in the same fashion that Amazon.com offers new books to its customers. “The ability to leverage technology is exciting for us because it gives Fillmore a chance to improve our services at a localized level, while at the same time we’re broadening our regional footprints through acquisition and organic growth,” concludes Reinhardt.

Here's Brooklyn 'Resort Living,' Including Temporary PriceChop
Tuesday, June 3, 2008


We were taken by the idea of the temporary PriceChopper when the Toll Brothers did it in Long Island City at 5SL, but we're totally mesmerized by it in the case of Mill Harbor. Not just the $50,000 off sale, but the entire development, which is in Bergen Beach in Southern Brooklyn and is billing itself as Brooklyn's first gated community, offering "resort living" with "Manhattan-type amenities" and "European-inspired residences." Here's the email that put Mill Harbor on the radar screen:

Clothing sales. Shoe sales. Real estate sales. A real estate sale? Yes, you read right. Mill Harbor, the very FIRST gated community in Brooklyn, started a one-week sale on June 2 to complement its overall marketing campaign to alert the public to its fabulous luxury-style homes. Prices are reduced by a whopping $50,000 -  this will enable an even wider selection of potential, qualified home owners to purchase luxury-style homes with Manhattan-type amenities.

Prices (pre-discount) range from under $400K to $750K and, yes, there's a 2BR listed for $399,000. (The discount is only on units above $400K.) Prices go back up on June 10, so hurry.
· Mill Harbor

Is East New York the new Harlem?

BY JASON SHEFTELL
DAILY NEWS REAL ESTATE CORRESPONDENT

Thursday, March 13th 2008, 10:18 PM
 
Landscaping between two towers in MeadowWood at Gateway.

(Page 1 of 3)

Last Sunday, the sales center at MeadowWood at Gateway condominium was so busy with purchase activity it felt like Kmart just before Christmas.

Three generations of entire families waited anxiously for one of the 23 Fillmore Real Estate agents to usher them through five or six model apartments. Two older gentlemen looked at two- and three-bedrooms with water views. A woman in the elevator told an agent she would buy in the spring. A pregnant woman in her third trimester came to purchase a specific unit she had her eyes on for months.

Welcome to Brooklyn's East New York, where working-class families can find apartments loaded with granite countertops, bamboo floors, French door closets, and Crate and Barrel sinks for prices ranging from $110,500 studios to $350,000 three-bedrooms.

"Every place has its time," says Fillmore Real Estate's John-Paul Ho, who heads the 23-agent team selling the MeadowWood complex. "Now it's East New York. It's like a Cinderella story for the entire area."

Selling homes in the area for the past 15 years, Ho has seen the neighborhood go from good to bad to worse to the current renaissance. In the early 1990s, drug sales and carjackings were as prevalent as eviction notices and buildings with no heat.

Now, ground-up construction, condo conversions and a huge commercial shopping center have turned this often-maligned urban outpost on the city's fringe into an emerging

neighborhood where home ownership has become a priority instead of a pipe dream.

"There is no question that the neighborhoods with higher rates of home ownership have the greatest stability, schools and community services," says Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. "Brooklynites outside of the ‘Brownstone Belt' don't realize that we have an affordability issue in certain neighborhoods and we're losing families to other areas such as New Jersey. We're committed to not letting that happen."

Ho thinks East New York might be the new Harlem. "People who can't afford to buy in Harlem are coming here," he says. "They don't want to miss out on what they missed out on 20 years ago there. Right now, this is the best deal in town."

Mable Elliott, an assistant principal at P.S./I.S. 50 in East Harlem, bought a two-bedroom at MeadowWood for $225,000. She looked at $850,000 condos in midtown and Harlem before deciding on the East New York development.

"I wanted solid construction," says Elliott, who gave her daughter the rental rights to her apartment behind Lincoln Center on W. 62nd St.

MANN REPORT RESIDENTIAL
Bigger And Better Than Ever


John Reinhardt “Ultimately home buyers need to know that Fillmore has their best interest at heart.” Fillmore Real Estate

Over the course of more than four decades, Fillmore Real Estate's mantra of service excellence has enabled the firm to emerge as New York City's largest privately owned and operated residential real estate company. Today, under the leadership of president and chief executive officer, John Reinhardt, Brooklyn - based Fillmore is aggressively staking a claim as a regional player-faster than even the company's own business plan anticipated.

"This isn't the same real estate environment that existed when my father, William Reinhardt, Sr., founded Fillmore in 1966," says the younger Reinhardt. "The marketplace can literally transform in a day, and technology plays a far greater role. We're working hard to be at the forefront of technical excellence, while remaining alert to unexpected opportunities and staying true to our commitment to hiring the best agents and providing the best possible client service."

One unexpected opportunity arose recently when Foxtons, the discount broker - age firm, declared bankruptcy, putting its New York area residential listings up for sale. Fillmore purchased more than 1,400 of those listings, while hiring dozens of the firm's top-producing agents. The company promptly created a 'Fillmore Fusion Team' to educate ex-Foxtons agents about Fillmore's services and philosophies - helping to ensure a seamless transitions for both agents and homeowners.

"The Foxtons purchase was the equivalent of meeting our two-year growth goals in two days," says Reinhardt. "But the opportunity was too great to pass up, and we can already see our initiative paying dividends. Meanwhile, we're opening satellite offices throughout the five boroughs as well as on Long Island and in Westchester. This has turned us into a regional powerhouse."

While broadening its regional footprint, Fillmore remains proud of its Brooklyn roots. Headquartered in Sheepshead Bay, it has more than 17 offices and more than 500 agents throughout the county. One of Fillmore's most recent achievements in its home borough was being named the exclusive sales agent for MeadowWood at Gateway, Brooklyn's largest condominium project. MeadowWood offers lower- and middle-income buyers the opportunity to own their own home in a secure, attractive setting.

"Ultimately, home buyers need to know that Fillmore has their best interests at heart," says Reinhardt. "Whenever we make a business decision, one of the key questions we ask ourselves is, 'Does this strengthen our client relationships?' MeadowWood definitely accomplishes that, because it's giving hundreds of renters the opportunity to become first- time homeowners."

The firm is acutely aware of the opportunity presented by technology to bolster every phase of their client’s real estate transactions. To that end, the is investing considerable resources enhancing its technology platform beginning with a newly enhanced web site that leverages its proprietary brand , Dashboard software program. Fillmore.com is a site where our client can save properties, check out their recently viewed listings, set up automatic and search for open houses, among other functions," says Reinhardt. H, that the upgraded web site facilitates client/agent relationship from day one, because the agent and his or her customer typically fill out the 'My Fillmore' profile together, giving the agent additional insight into the client's preferences.

"The ability to leverage technology citing for us, because it's really giving Fillmore a chance to improve our services a localized level while, at the same we're broadening our regional footprints through acquisition and organic growth concludes Reinhardt.

"I talk a lot keeping pace with, and anticipating change. But one thing that hasn't changed at all since my father founded Fillmore is the need for a solid foundation based on client service and relationships. And that’s Fillmore to its core."

John Reinhardt
President /Chief Executive Officer
Fillmore Real Estate

The borough's under-privileged youngsters were in for a bright holiday season, thanks to The big hearted efforts of Fillmore Real Estate, which launched its fourth annual toy drive for the Salvation Army.

Realtors and staffers at the corporate headquarters, 2990 Avenue U, collected thousands of toys and then had them delivered to local families in need.

The drive was dedicated to the memory of Fillmore founder and Chairman William “Bill” Reinhart who passed away of lung cancer, December 3, 2005.

Realistic prices for buying a condo
by Barbara Corcoran


Homes in the Midwood section of Brooklyn

Q.  I'm 28 years old and have lived in this country for three years. I make around $35,000 a year; I have about $40,000 in savings and my credit score is around 680. I'd like to buy a co-op or condo and am wondering what price you think I can realistically afford.

A.  Good for you! Few people have the determination and discipline to save $40,000 out $105,000 in earnings.

You should comfortably be able to buy a home for about $120,000, and if you put $30,000 down, you'll still have $10,000 left for closing and fixup costs.

But if you're willing to stay where you're living now, buy the condo and rent it out, you'll be firmly on the road to becoming a millionaire. Every great American success story starts with just that kind of moxie.

Q.  We just finished building an amazing house in Florida, and now we realize that we can't afford the mortgage. We're debating whether we should hold on to the house until the market improves and then sell it, or try to rent it out.

A.  You first need to know how much rent you could get for your house and whether that number can cover your mortgage, taxes and insurance. If it does, you'll be able to pack your bags and move on. But I think the most prudent choice is often to cut your losses.

Last year, I pushed my parents to sell, rather than rent, their penthouse condo in Palm Bay, Fla. They wanted to wait until things improved, but months later it was worth 20% less than what they sold it for. Today, Palm Bay ranks No. 1 on the list of fastest-depreciating communities.

The lesson learned? Sometimes it's smart to take your money and run.

Q.  I'm looking to buy a co-op in Midwood, Brooklyn, for about $179,000. But recently I've seen some great deals in Philadelphia and Baltimore, where I could get a three-bedroom house for only $82,000. Which property would you suggest I pursue first?

A.  You should stick with what you know. Most people lose their shirt when they're sniffing around somebody else's backyard.

John Reinhardt of Fillmore Real Estate knows Midwood. He says it's a great neighborhood, and that the Ocean Ave. area around Avenue M is going entirely in the right direction. It's not too far from Manhattan on the subway, and the neighborhood amenities are great.

Why 2008 Can Be a Happy New Year in Real Estate Experts Discuss Innovative Ways to Weather the Changing, Challenging Market

By Chris Ryan, Coles Marketing Communications

Subprime mortgages. Massive home-loan defaults. Foreclosures. Record bank write-offs. A glut of home inventory.

2007 was the year of real estate doom and gloom in the news. Since then, nearly everyone has become an expert at looking back at 2007, pointing to short-term numbers and a falling sky to aid their arguments about just how bad the market has become.

There is a silver lining, though. Real estate experts and successful brokers, owners and managers are looking ahead, applying lessons learned to adjust for 2008 and beyond.

“Brokers who are doing OK today are identifying opportunities through education and networking,” said Lou Ludwig, CRB, CRS, GRI, CIPS, e-PRO, founder and president of Ludwig & Associates, a real estate sales and management training and consulting firm based in Boca Raton, Fla. “They are proactive, not reactive. Unfortunately, we’re being too reactive right now. People are reading too many negative news articles.”

While there’s no question the market has been a challenge for many U.S. real estate professionals, effectively adapting remains a mystery to many. Riding out the lean times, according to Ludwig, just won’t work like it did in the past.

“I don’t think that you can, in a traditional fashion, ‘ride it out,’” he said. “A lot of the methods and techniques we’ve used in the industry over the years have changed. They will not get you where you have to go and will just create more challenges and difficulties.” Ludwig believes it’s important for brokers, owners and managers to sharpen their own skills so that they can better lead and motivate their agents.

“Education programs not only bring your education level up, they create the opportunity to talk to people who have the same issues as you across the country,” Ludwig said. “That information exchange is critical for the broker today because then the broker realizes they’re not the only one facing the issue.” In addition to the comfort that knowledge might provide, it also serves as a way to change one’s perspective on the state of the industry.

“Go to the Inman and RISmedia conferences,” said John Reinhardt, president and CEO of Fillmore Real Estate in Brooklyn, N.Y., the largest privately owned and operated real estate firm in New York City with more than 500 agents and 17 offices. “Conferences like that have helped us grow and stay on the edge and anticipate. When situations come up, we can react more intelligently to them. We are prepared, not surprised.” Even if an agent stumbles in this new posture, Reinhardt said, the educational experience is still quite valuable.

“If things you hear at a conference don’t pan out, the flow of conversation with your peers is still beneficial and extremely healthy,” he said. In addition to upping the education ante, Ludwig sees 2008 as a good time to look closely at how you conduct your business.

“What we’re facing today is opportunities disguised as challenges,” he said. “Despite the everyday issues, it’s a phenomenal time to create opportunities by adding an edge to your business practices. Look within marketplaces for what niche opportunities are available.” Nationally, Ludwig cited big opportunities with international customers looking to buy in the United States, commercial office space and the biggest: selling excess builder inventory.

“We have the resources through the MLS and networking to get those sold much quicker than the builders,” he said. Each market will come back at a different time and at a different pace, according to Ludwig, which reinforces his advocacy of “niche-ing.” On the buyers side, despite subprime woes, significant opportunities still exist.

“The market will come back by market niches, products and price points,” he explained. “Maybe the entry-level housing market will do well [in 2008]. There’s a 50% divorce rate. People coming out of marriages are buying real estate.” In addition, Ludwig said, the Federal Housing Authority has revised its lending program. Depending on where you live in the country, the new FHA programs will allow people to get into housing who might have been in the subprime market before its problems began.

“We also have a large veteran population,” he added. “Between FHA and [Veterans Administration] loans, there is a lot of financing available for a big block of people in the country today.” Another critical step for firms to take, experts like Ludwig say, is to become leaner and focus on offering agents what they most want — which isn’t always money.

“I think love goes a long way,” said Esther Muller, a 30-year broker and co-founder and master teacher at New York’s Academy of Continuing Education (www.realestateacademy.com), one of New York’s leading continuing education programs for real estate professionals. “I used to think giving awards was nonsense, but you know something? I coach some of the top agents in [New York City]. After a while, it’s not about money for them. It’s about recognition, power and accomplishment.”

She recommends brokers, owners and managers sit down one-on-one each quarter and talk to agents to discover what it will take to keep them productive and happy. The logic, according to Muller, is simple.

“If you have happy agents, recruiting is easy,” she said. “For the new people, give them fabulous training and mentorships with top people in the company. Don’t just give them a desk and a telephone and say, ‘Go for it.’ That’s not a business.” Bill Shue, president of RealtyU Group Inc., a real estate continuing education provider in Aliso Viejo, Calif., couldn’t agree more.

“Brokers need to look at expenses,” he said. “They’re all looking at cost-cutting. They need to get their profit and loss statements and general ledgers out and really analyze them.” Getting rid of “deadwood agents,” Shue said, is important in challenging times but much different than cutting back on education for agents who just might need a little extra help adapting to some of real estate’s new realities.

“It goes back to a few core issues,” Ludwig said of brokers, owners of managers. “The size of their offices today, the number of associates they have and what they are doing to educate their associates.” Many agents, he said, entered the business in the last few years when the market was especially strong.

“The requirements for success and expectations were much different,” he said. Simply put, brokers are going to have to offer more education to their associates and be much more selective about who they recruit to work for them.

“You have to create the belief systems of success,” he explained. “You have to mentor, train and teach success. You can’t let them just run loose on their own.”

Fillmore Real Estate, Reinhardt’s company, recently acquired the listings of bankrupt discount broker Foxtons, which will expand Fillmore’s presence beyond Brooklyn and into other boroughs in New York City, lending credence to his belief that a challenging market is the perfect time to sit down and re-evaluate everything. “This is a great time to go from ‘inks’ to ‘links’ — to move from newspaper advertising to the Internet,” Reinhardt said, adding that many brokers face the significant obstacle of agents who say they still “need” newspaper advertising.

“They don’t,” he said flatly. “Newspapers aren’t attracting as many people.” He advises brokers, owners and managers to redirect their marketing dollars to less expensive and more effective Internet marketing using sites such as www.trulia.com. Continuing education and training are also critical in this changing market where customers have full access to much of the same information as agents.

“A lot of agents have been in the business only a short period of time,” Reinhardt said. “These people have to be taught the basics; they have to be made aware of what is happening and how to adjust their business practices accordingly. There are a whole bunch of education programs tailored to that.” Shue, the educator, agrees.

“A broker’s No. 1 asset is agents,” he said. “Invest in them.” “The smarter you become and the more professional you are, the more money you’ll make,” Muller said. It takes top training, education and persistence to become a business-minded person who is sensitive to all of the skills needed from that first sit-down to closing the transaction and beyond.

“The average transaction takes nine months. Even giving birth is easier than giving birth to that first transaction,” Muller said, laughing. Though difficult, she said, working in real estate can be extremely rewarding and profitable if an agent spends the years, learns the skills and surrounds him- or herself with top-producing people.

“Don’t work alone,” Muller recommends. “Find a mentor and work with them. Network. Build relationships with other brokers, owners and managers. Read about each other, talk to each other, network among each other. Continuously stay in the network.” The most critical component to training and retaining top-producing agents, according to Ludwig, is to properly manage expectations when recruiting.

“A lot of [agents] came in with the wrong idea, thinking, ‘I don’t have to do much.’ By telling them what they have to do in the first few years to be successful, they will be,” he said. According to Muller, unrealistic expectations can be an issue for both recruiter and recruitee.

“We allow people to come into this business too easily,” she said. “If you spent 45 hours with me, you could become a real estate professional. You get your license, become affiliated and get 50% of the deal. That’s not realistic.” A lot of agents, according to Shue, just don’t have the skills they need to succeed in a more difficult market.

“The order-taking days are over,” he said. When doing their business plans, brokers need to find and allocate the dollars to train their agents, regardless of the office’s size, whether it’s five agents or 1,000. To do that, Ludwig and others say, brokers, owners and managers must forge a strong connection with their sales teams, which will directly and positively affect retention.

“If you were to ask me three years ago what the hot button was from an agent’s perspective, I would have said favorable commission plans,” Shue said. Today, the top wish-list items are back office and administrative support, lead-generation programs, education and professional development, he said.

“Brokers have historically shied away from the education component because of turnover,” Shue added. “Today, that’s not true. There is more of a loyalty factor: ‘If you help develop me, I’m more inclined to stay.’” If brokers can deliver training in a cost-effective way through a third party, he said, they can avoid putting a drag on their own productivity.

“You’re never fully trained,” Shue added. “If you can continue to convince your agents that training will help them bring in more money, they won’t leave.”

Outside the office walls, this changing market has also given rise to the confident seller, who is convinced it doesn’t take all that much to list, show and sell a house independently. That’s where another form of education becomes critically important, according to Reinhardt.

“People say they’re going to save on a broker’s fee [by listing it themselves] and end up losing their shirt.” That presents an opportunity, he said. “It’s not only about educating the consumer; it’s educating the agent to educate the consumer.”

Top Real Estate Stories of 2007

Downturn, downturn, downturn

Inman News

"Downturn," "subprime," "foreclosures" and "credit crunch" are the top phrases that come to mind when looking back at the year in real estate news. 2007 will be remembered as the year the subprime mortgage market collapsed, causing a credit crunch whose effect on the broader economy is still to be determined. The credit crunch has caused everyone to wonder whether the housing market will now play a role in tipping the economy into recession in 2008. But even while housing markets were slowing substantially in some parts, a boom in online activity and innovation in real estate was happening this year. 2007 was marked by an explosion in real estate blogging along with some major media interest in a few newer online business models.

Here are our picks for the most memorable real estate stories of 2007:

1. Subprime market implodes; housing downturn worsens. Subprime lenders started going belly up this year as they lost access to funding in an avalanche of delinquencies and foreclosures on loans that were packaged and sold to Wall Street investors. Each week brought more bad news in the mortgage and financial markets as more lenders and securities firms started reporting losses stemming from delinquencies and foreclosures. Congress has held numerous hearings on plans to help relieve some of the fallout from the resulting credit crunch (see #4 below). This story was by far the most important one for real estate in 2007 and will continue to unravel throughout 2008.

2. Blogging runs deeper in real estate's blood. If 2006 was remembered as the year real estate blogging really took off, then 2007 will be known as the year that real estate bloggers went deeper, passing "sport" status and placing the practice officially under the heading of "business plan." Many milestones converged to make this possible: Those who figured out blogging were gaining more and more business from it; ActiveRain, the social network for real estate professionals centered around blogging, saw its membership skyrocket, reaching 62,000 members by year end; and the slower market may have prompted many more agents to try blogging since its low cost of entry means there's not much to lose. Many of real estate's star bloggers came together for the first Bloggers Connect conference in August.

3. Foxtons closes shop. Foxtons, a discount real estate brokerage company that operated in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, put a notice on its Web site on Oct. 2 announcing its intent to file for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy and place its property listing agreements with another brokerage company. The bankruptcy court judge handling the case later allowed the company to auction off about 4,300 listing agreements in New York and New Jersey to the highest bidders, which included Maplewood Homebuilders LLC and Brooklyn-based Fillmore Real Estate.

4. Foreclosure problem worsens; Bush announces rescue plan. The Bush administration on Dec. 6 rolled out a much-anticipated agreement with mortgage lenders and loan servicers to refinance or freeze the interest rates on up to 1.2 million subprime adjustable-rate mortgages for five years. The plan aims to help reduce the impact of the housing downturn on the economy and communities affected by foreclosures. The plan has met criticism from consumer advocates who say it won't help enough borrowers and warnings from some in the lending industry who say a rate freeze could discourage investors from financing future loans. The plan has the backing of the American Securitization Forum, which represents companies that issue mortgage-backed securities, as well as investors, loan servicers and rating agencies.

5. Redfin and "60 Minutes" of fame. CBS' well-known "60 Minutes" television news program tackled the issue of real estate commissions, discounters versus full-service companies, and industry competition in a segment, "Chipping Away at Realtors' Six Percent," that aired May 13, 2007. The segment, which focused heavily on Seattle-based discount brokerage company Redfin, caused an uproar within the industry. After spending a lot of time with the show's producers explaining the Justice Department's ongoing antitrust lawsuit, the National Association of Realtors felt it got the "empty chair" treatment by not being shown interviewed in the segment. Many others said the portrayal of traditional broker and agent fees was biased and unfair. The primetime appearance was a clear win for Redfin, which saw an increase in activity in the days following the show.

6. Trulia and Zillow get booted from Prudential Real Estate convention. To the dismay of some of the company's brokers, Prudential Real Estate barred two of the biggest names in online real estate -- Trulia and Zillow -- from exhibiting at the company's annual convention in San Diego in March. Both companies had booked booths at the show and flew executives to Southern California to rub elbows with Prudential brokers, only to be told at the last minute they were not welcome. Trulia co-founder Sami Inkinen reported the incident on the company's blog, saying they were told that their business model was in direct competition with a partnership between Prudential Real Estate Affiliates and Yahoo! Inc.

7. Realogy goes private. An affiliate of private equity firm Apollo Management LP in April completed the purchase of Realogy Corp., about a year after Realogy was formed as an independent publicly traded company that broke off from Cendant Corp. Realogy owns real estate franchise brands Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, Sotheby's, Better Homes & Gardens and Coldwell Banker Commercial. The transaction was valued at about $8.5 billion. 

8. Well-known real estate writer dies. Beloved real estate advice columnist Robert Bruss passed away on Sept. 26, leaving a legacy behind that won't soon be replaced. For more than 20 years Bruss wrote weekly real estate columns that appeared in hundreds of newspapers across the country answering complicated real estate questions submitted by his loyal readers. He was the most prolific writer in the industry, a consumer advocate who wrote from experience and expertise honed from his years of real estate investing, teaching and attorney work. His columns were syndicated by Inman News, and the staff here considered him a close friend and mentor.

9. NAR's Gateway project announced. The National Association of Realtors in May revealed a somewhat vague plan to develop a massive national property information database. An advisory group charged with conceptualizing the project said in November that the database would be accessible to varying degrees by consumers, agents, brokers, appraisers and government agencies. This so-called Gateway system could include information on all types of properties, including for-sale-by-owner and agent-represented active for-sale listings. The group has been careful not to call the project a national MLS. NAR's group says industry participants are demanding such a system to expand property information that is at their disposal. The project could hit one snag as NAR's current agreement with Move Inc., which operates Realtor.com, would prevent consumer access to such a database and would have to be restructured.

10. FHA goes modern. FHA modernization was a hot topic throughout 2007 as lawmakers volleyed back and forth on how to bring FHA loan programs more in line with market prices so that more borrowers would be able to use them. Senate lawmakers in December passed legislation that would reduce but not eliminate down-payment requirements, allow for a smaller increase in the maximum-size mortgage eligible for FHA backing, and place a one-year moratorium on a plan to introduce risk-based pricing. The bill would allow the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee loans of $417,000 or more in high-cost areas, the conforming loan limit for loans eligible for repurchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Bush administration supports the modest increases in FHA loan limits put forward by the Senate, advocating raising limits from $362,000 in high-cost areas to $417,000, and from $200,000 in lower-cost areas to $271,000.

***

Opportunity knocks, even in a down market

Brokerage company reps say it's never a bad time to grow

By Glenn Roberts Jr.
Inman News

It may take more than a year for the housing market to climb out of this slump, but that's no reason for real estate companies to stand still, said brokerage company representatives during an Inman News audio conference Monday.

Companies should continue to try new approaches and should not close the door to growth and opportunity, said participants in the "2008: Thriving in a Real Estate Downturn" audio conference.

"As the market has tightened up we're looking at things with a magnifying glass," said John Reinhardt, president of Fillmore Real Estate, a commercial and residential real estate company in New York City that has about 18 offices and 500 agents. But the company continues to grow, picking up about 25 agents and paying to acquire 1,300 property listings from Foxtons Inc., a real estate company that has filed for bankruptcy.

"We're opening up an office on Friday in the Bronx, and looking at three other locations currently," Reinhardt said. "When the market was great it wasn't really that difficult to sell a home and the other brokers out there also did alright."

There can be acquisition opportunities for companies that are not faring well in the downturn, participants also said, and for agents who are looking to switch to a company with more resources and support.

Sherry Chris, president and CEO for Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate, a new real estate franchise brand of Realogy that is expected to launch next year, said, "I would imagine that in every company agents have left the business because they're struggling now. There are also some good merger and acquisition opportunities right now. Some brokers are putting up their hands and saying, 'I'm not sure I want to be in this business anymore.'"

The big companies may get bigger during these lean times, as some companies may find the right time to exit. "There are people out there who want to buy real estate companies right there."

Pat Lashinsky, CEO for brokerage company ZipRealty, said the company -- which has operations in 32 markets and 18 states -- plans to grow into two to four new market areas in the coming year.

The impact of a plan by lenders to assist up to 1.2 million borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages headed for reset by allowing them to refinance or modifying their loan terms could have a positive effect on the market, the panelists generally agreed.

Lashinsky said that this program will "psychologically have an important role" on consumers, even if it's direct business effects are not widespread. Any program that works to stem the tide of foreclosures may serve to reduce buyer fear about the state of the market, he explained.

"It's probably not a bad thing, particularly if it helps stave off a recession, if it helps homeowners," said Chris. "I'm not sure whether it's going to have a huge impact across the country ... but it's probably not necessarily a bad thing."

Reinhardt said the program could soften the blow of foreclosures, noting that there are a number of people who are headed toward foreclosure in the Brooklyn market.

Training programs and innovative marketing can be a differentiator in a downturn, the call participants said. Lashinsky said it's important for companies to work on making their agents more successful in this kind of market. Providing the proper tools is also important, he said, and "the quality and speed of communication is paramount" in developing technology solutions.

He said that ZipRealty has worked on a tool that quickly generates comparative market analysis reports for both sellers and buyers to help agents in marketing their services to prospective clients.

Dabbling in new marketing programs and revisiting old ones is also advisable, Lashinsky said. "When you test (something new) there is a certain amount of risk that is inherently built into that." And just because something didn't work before doesn't mean it won't work now, in a different market environment, he said.

Agents should get traditional training as well as "Internet training," Reinhardt said. His company encourages agents to be involved in online communities as well as their real-world communities, he said, as that can help them to build online and offline relationships with people that can lead to new business, either directly or non-directly. "Communication is always the key," he said.

Social networking and blogging sites can assist agents in reaching out to consumers, Chris said, adding that she expects these tools to become increasingly important in reaching the younger generations of home buyers and sellers. "I think that social networking is going to be a significant part of real estate in the years to come," said Chris, particularly with the shift in demographics.

She said that blogging and social networking sites allow agents to build a long-term relationship with consumers, as the Internet empowers them to search for real estate information at a very early stage in the home-selling or home-buying process.

Reinhardt said his company posts property information to NewYorkTimes.com, Trulia and craigslist.org to multiply the audience. "Things like that don't necessarily cost a lot of money," he said, though they can pay off in generating leads.

***

 

December 28, 2007

Sales Hummin’ at Huge East New York Conversion

Here’s a cheerful dispatch from outside the Brownstone Belt: Sales at Brooklyn’s largest condo conversion are going extremely well, and the development’s lead broker says buyer interest “has been overwhelming.” Eighty-eight units have gone into contract at East New York’s MeadowWood at Gateway since sales began in September, according to Jean-Paul Ho, a vice president at Fillmore Real Estate and MeadowWood’s director of sales.

MeadowWood at Gateway is a humongous former Mitchell-Lama rental complex that used to be called Fairfield Towers. Taconic Investment Partners and Apollo Real Estate Advisors purchased the complex last year and are putting $51 million into capital improvements. Prices at MeadowWood are running between $110,000 and $118,000 for studios; from $169,000 to $200,000 for one-bedrooms; and between $209,000 and $270,000 for two-bedrooms.

The prices are ridiculously low,” says Ho. “It’s the best value in Brooklyn.” (The New York State Affordable Housing Corp. and HPD are also offering financing incentives to moderate-income buyers.) Ho predicts that around 350 units will sell over the next year. “We’re not selling luxury condos in Dumbo or Brooklyn Heights,” he says. “But there’s always going to be a demand for affordable housing options in Brooklyn.”

East Brooklyn Cinderella hits the market

December 15. 2007 4:16PM

Demand strong for rehabbed housing complex's condos

An ambitious overhaul of a sprawling apartment complex at the eastern edge of Brooklyn reached a milestone last week when buyers closed on the first of 983 renovated units.

One year ago, Taconic Investment Partners and Apollo Real Estate Advisors paid $90 million for the unsold units of the former Fairfield Presidential Towers. They embarked on a $51 million revamp of the badly deteriorated 1,152-unit development, now called MeadowWood at Gateway.

The old Fairfield epitomized urban decay. "It was totally disgusting," says Jean-Paul Ho, a real estate broker who has worked in the area for 12 years.

In contrast, MeadowWood's rehabbed units feature granite countertops, bamboo floors and French doors. Boilers and elevators have been replaced, and video cameras and guards survey the grounds.

In addition, a minibus--currently paid for by the complex's owners--shuttles residents to the nearby Gateway Center mall and subways.

Prices start at $112,000 for studios, which have all been sold. All units are classified as affordable, meaning that buyers must meet income guidelines and can get government help on the purchase.

Not everyone is satisfied. East New York City Councilman Charles Barron says longtime renters in the building--which went condo in 1990--are being pressured to buy; that would raise their monthly payments and burden them with a six-figure debt. Tenants who buy should get a discount that is three or four times as much as the 10% being offered, Mr. Barron says.

He has been organizing residents and is negotiating with the owners.

--Erik Engquist

Judge Ruled. Foxtons Sold Their Listings.

 Excerpt from The Associated Press...

A federal court decision last week cleared the way for real estate companies to purchase thousands of New Jersey and New York property listings held by bankrupt discount brokerage Foxtons.

Rahway, N.J.-based Maplewood Homes will buy more than 3,400 New Jersey listings for $100,000, while Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Fillmore Real Estate is spending $110,000 for hundreds of listings in New York.

The bankruptcy court ruled that Foxtons customers who signed a three- or six-month contract would be customers of Century 21 Atlantic Realty, which has agreed to market the New Jersey homes for Maplewood, or of Fillmore Real Estate, which will market the New York homes.

 

 

November 2007

Behind Discounter Foxtons' Demise

Brokers bid a tearless farewell to discount brokerage upstart

By Jen Benepe

Foxtons North America, the discount real estate brokerage that caused a splash when it came to the U.S. more than four years ago, filed for Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey last month.

The move marks the end of the firm's attempted incursion in the tri-state area, complete with brand-splattered Mini-Coopers, tidy green-and-yellow house signs, British accents and frothy cappuccinos served to clients.

Experts say the bankruptcy workout process could take months, not days, leaving more than 2,000 New York City sellers in limbo as the selling season goes into winter hibernation.

In limbo too, at least for the time being, will be the concept of a low commission, low-service firm, an idea that met resistance from other brokers in the New York region.

U.K. Roots

It may come as a surprise that Foxtons North America's ancestor, the British version, is
actually a high-end brand.

"Most people don't realize that Foxtons are the premier prestigious company in London, and everyone wants to be listed with Foxtons or have them represent them when they are renting properties," said Heather Bise, a broker for DJK Residential who represents many international clients in the U.S.

Not only is Foxtons U.K. a high-service firm, it's also a high-commission firm: In the U.K., standard commissions average 1.5 percent, but Foxtons would charge 2.5 to 3 percent.

To justify that billing, the firm makes a swashbuckling promise: 10 percent greater sales price on your home if you list with them.

"They say they are going to get you more, and they get you more," said Bise.

Company founder Jon Hunt certainly got more, selling the London-based operation to BC Partners Ltd. for £390 million -- about $800 million -- in May.

Unfortunately for Hunt, he kept Foxtons North America as a separate company as part of the transaction. Hunt had not made himself available to the media as of press time.

U.S. history

Foxtons had made a bold entry in the U.S. market in 2000, buying out brokerage firm Your Home Direct Realty (later shortened to YHD Realty), a discount commission realty started by Glenn Cohen.

"They scared the entire brokerage community out of their wits; people were thinking this was Doomsday," said Fernanda Forman, managing director of Bond Property Marketing Group. "The same reaction was all over -- 'How can we compete with these guys?'" Forman said.

But the company failed to get much traction. After struggling with the discount model in New Jersey and especially in New York, the company recruited 49-year-old Van Davis, previously chief executive officer of full-service brokerage Century 21, as its new CEO.

Davis adjusted the firm's strategy by bringing the discounted commission up from 2 percent to 3 percent -- then later, according to reports, to 4 percent (compared to the standard 6 percent commission seen at traditional brokerages).

Still, the low "co-brokes" paid to cooperating brokers -- either buyer brokers who showed their clients Foxtons' listings, or seller brokers, who showed their properties to Foxtons' clients -- may have been the crucial factor that worked against the Foxtons' discount model.

"In New York City, the seller pays, and if there is only 2 percent, there is not enough money to split the deal," said Janice Silver, executive vice president and sales manager of Bellmarc Realty, East Side.

Even 4 percent may have been too little, too late to compete in the tri-state area, one of the most complicated real estate markets in the world.

"I don't think people are looking for discount brokers. I think they are looking for effective brokers, someone who could sell their home," said Lynn Epstein, president of brokerage Devlin-McNiff, which operates in Suffolk County.

Dottie Herman, president and CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman, said that when Foxtons first came to Long Island five or six years ago, "they had no offices. They had cheap commissions, but basically, they did not do anything."

Herman, whose company has about a 20 percent market share on the Island, said she doesn't think it was the discount model that made the company fail, but their business model. "There are a million discount brokers, and there will always be discount brokers. That wasn't the problem," she noted.

Despite very good advertising and marketing, Herman said it appeared as if the salespeople did not know the market well and just put a listing on the Internet.

Because the firm only offered minimal marketing and very little support, Herman said, "I used to tell clients, if you're going to pay them just 2 percent, you're better off just doing it on your own instead."

Low-service Marketing Plan

Foxtons' model was to have the seller execute the bulk of the marketing of the home themselves, placing the ads, showing their property, and working with buyers and buyers' brokers. The company, for its part, would list their property on the Foxtons' Web site, provide a sign for the front yard, and come into the picture once the property received offers to assist with contracts and closing.

The company spent a great deal of money on mass marketing. "They had a big billboard over the tunnel entrance coming back from East Hampton," recounted Silver. "My husband would say, 'Oh, Foxtons is taking over,' and I would say, 'They are not taking over anything.'"

The company also had a free marketing publication that was available at newsstands every month, large targeted mailing lists, and half- or full-page newspaper ads showing their listings.

Though the company claimed on its Web site to have "over 200 new homes for sale each week," the firm did not have much of a presence in New York City. In New Jersey and New York, near the end of October, it had no homes listed for sale on its Web site in Manhattan, 163 in Staten Island, 231 in the Bronx, 748 in Brooklyn, and 1,313 in Queens. In total, the firm had only 2,834 listings on its Web site in New York State, including New York City and Long Island.

Foxtons' New Jersey presence, by contrast, was much greater, with 44,555 homes listed for sale on its Web site, including commercial and residential properties, rentals and raw land. It's not clear how many of those properties were exclusive listings.

Many brokers claim never to have seen the firm's listings. "The only place I have seen any of Foxtons listings was when they were placing full-page ads in the New York Times," said Forman.

Devlin-McNiff's Epstein said what hurt Foxtons the most was that they never had local offices, "just signs and a phone number." In a market like the Hamptons, "where 80 percent of the business is done by 20 percent of the brokers," she said, "you can't drop in from outer space and do well."

Aside from not integrating themselves with the brokerage community, Foxtons may have simply not been prepared for the complex details necessary to pull off deals in the New York City market. Silver said about 80 percent of Bellmarc's business is in co-op sales, an area that is far too complex for a virtual office agent to handle.

A lot of work needs to be done by the broker for co-op sales, she explained. "They recommend a mortgage broker, or a banker, an attorney, they know the managing agents of the buildings, and we also instruct people how to present themselves to the board for approval," Silver noted. "Can you imagine a virtual agent filling out a board package that often goes 200 pages?" she asked.

Sellers in Limbo

Now, a message posted to Foxtons customers on the Foxtons.com Web site reads, "We regret to inform you that, due to the recent down turn in the residential real estate market, Foxtons has decided to conduct an orderly liquidation of its business."

The note, signed by Mark Horvat -- the company's vice president of sales -- also says that the company will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will seek to have active listings "assigned to another real estate broker."

As The Real Deal went to press, Brooklyn-based Fillmore Real Estate won the bidding for Foxtons' sale of 1,400 home listings in the New York area for $110,000. Fillmore said it also took on 15 former Foxtons agents with plans to hire more. In New Jersey, Foxtons agreed to sell its listings to a joint venture of Century 21 Atlantic Realty and Maplewood Homebuilders.

Repeated calls to the Foxtons headquarters, as well as to their subsidiaries, including mortgage company Foxtons Financial and Safeguard Title Agency, were not returned.

The company listed $40.9 million in total liabilities and $488,000 in assets in a bankruptcy court filing, according to news reports. In 2006 Foxtons, showed $32.3 million in sales, according to financial research company Hoover's.

Past Troubles

Foxtons North America and its subsidiaries had been sued in a class-action suit in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in 2004. The plaintiffs alleged that Foxtons, acting as their broker, charged fees and received a yield spread premium without disclosing the information to them until the time of closing.

The class-action suit included anyone who had "purchased, or sought to purchase, a home listed for sale by Foxtons and who have paid a prequalification application fee, or who have received and accepted an offer from Foxtons for a fixed interest rate mortgage loan that Foxtons failed to deliver as promised and who have suffered damages as a result," according to court documents.

The complaint was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum in October 2005.

Also, in 2004 and 2006, the Foxtons North American mortgage brokerage, Foxtons Financial, was investigated by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance for allegedly using unregistered solicitors and failing to disclose mortgage application fees to borrowers. The company was found to be guilty of two administrative violations, was fined separately $50,000 and $100,000, and paid the violations, said Jim Gardner, communications manager for the agency. In late October 2007 the company also paid a $12,000 fine for technical violations in issuing loan commitments, said Gardner.

Many saw the fact that Hunt, the former Army officer who founded Foxtons, stayed with the company as a stamp that the Northeastern U.S. market was as strong as ever. Foxtons North America did not pay its salaried workers lavishly, however. They earned about $25,000 to $35,000, plus a $500 bonus for every property sold.

There was no increase in commission if the sale was for a greater amount, or more complex, according to brokers. "They can't live out here on that," said Epstein, referring to her Hamptons location.

As far as co-broking for paltry splits, Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, noted that it would be the fiduciary responsibility of a broker to show their client a Foxtons property if they were interested. (Based on numerous comments splattered across the Web, and indications from brokers The Real Deal spoke to, few brokers are interested.) However, Herman said her brokers did work on Foxtons deals if they were listed on the Long Island MLS: "We co-broke everything."

Spinola said he had no record of Foxtons applying for membership in REBNY, and he did not see any reason why their application would have been rejected. He also said their commission structure would have had no bearing on the membership decision. "Commissions are negotiable in every deal," he noted.

Nationwide, realtor commissions paid on U.S. sales of residential real estate will total an estimated $51 billion in 2007, down from $59.44 billion in 2006, said Steve Murray, editor of Real Trends, a residential research and analysis firm.

While 6 percent is the ostensible industry standard when it comes to commissions for traditional brokerages, the average commission paid in 2006 was actually closer to 5 percent, a Real Trends report found. 

The Closer

Disclosures, Appraisals, Flips and Splits of N.Y.'s Real Estate Community

Thursday, November 8th 2007, 10:01 PM


John Reinhardt, CEO/President

Fillmore Real Estate, Brooklyn's top real estate agency, is expanding its horizons. Big time. The 41-year-old firm, founded by Bill Reinhardt and now run by his son John and other family members, just purchased all 1,400 local area listings from the recently bankrupt Foxtons.

It gives Fillmore an immediate presence in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. With 500 current agents and 17 offices in Brooklyn, Fillmore will hire at least 40 of Foxtons' agents to ease the transition and help homebuyers get faster access to all of their listings.

Fillmore has also upped its presence representing developments. They just became the exclusive broker for the MeadowWood at Gateway, an extremely affordable complex where units range in price from $100,000 to $340,000. Located on Brooklyn's Flatlands Ave. near the Gateway Center Mall with Target, Old Navy, Home Depot and Bed Bath & Beyond, the development is geared toward first-time home buyers.

The 18-building complex with highrises and townhouses has newly manicured fields and a state-of-the-art security system. Fillmore agent Jean-Paul Ho runs the sales office. Call (718) 927-0004.

Buyer’s Market in Brooklyn?

Posted By Lauren Kim On November 8, 2007 @ 8:00 am In Buying, Selling, New York

After reading yesterday’s news about the record levels of  home inventory, Developments started calling up real-estate agents for their take on various local markets. But when we dialed John Reinhardt at Fillmore Real Estate in Manhattan, we got a more personal story.

Mr. Reinhardt just cut about $100,000 off the asking price of his home, located in the Bergen Beach-neighborhood of Brooklyn. Mr. Reinhardt originally placed his house  on the market for $1 million. But after 60 days, he didn’t get any offers, he says. So, after he found a home he was interested in purchasing, he dropped his price and sold his house in three weeks.

Hardly a success story, we thought. But, Mr. Reinhardt insists that he got a fair deal on his home. Homeowners looking to sell should move beyond the dollar-amount they want, he says, and think instead of the opportunities that today’s housing market offers.

To wit: Mr. Reinhardt wound up buying a bigger home a block away for $200,000 below what it would have cost him two years ago, he says. With the inventory of homes for sale so high and plenty of choices out there, now is the time to buy, he adds.

 

Retailers So Far Fail To Follow Homebuyers to North Crown Heights

November 8, 2007

By LYNNE MILLER

In North Crown Heights, where the rebounding residential market is attracting young, affluent buyers anxious to acquire single-family homes, the retail scene is lagging.

Bounded by Eastern Parkway to the south, Pacific Street to the north, and Albany and Franklin avenues to the east and west, North Crown Heights, where homes can cost less than $1 million, is pulling in homebuyers priced out of Park Slope, the Upper West Side, and other established neighborhoods. Last month, the first Crown Heights North Association House and Garden Tour took place, and community leaders are working to polish the faded commercial strip along Nostrand Avenue to make it appealing to businesses.

The area has many well-preserved single- and multi-family homes on large lots, some with driveways and garages. On the streets perpendicular to Nostrand, between Eastern Parkway and Atlantic Avenue, there are numerous freestanding mansions and finely detailed brick rowhouses. Depending on their condition, they can sell for $650,000 to $1 million. In places like Prospect Heights, brownstones sell for as much as $1.5 million, while on the north side of Park Slope it is more than $2 million for a single-family home.

"You can still find a bargain, however there are fewer and fewer," a sales agent with Fillmore Real Estate, Alexander Gurevich, said. "When compared to Prospect Heights, Forte Greene, and Park Slope, Crown Heights is a bargain."

Earlier this year, the city granted landmark protection to 472 houses and other historically significant buildings in North Crown Heights, and hundreds more have been designated for future landmark status. During the house tour, the public was able to peek inside a few of the homes representing architectural styles from late Victorian to Renaissance Revival. The houses have grand proportions, high ceilings, and detailing, such as ornate woodwork and plaster ceiling medallions.

"It puts you on the map in terms of people knowing what's in the community," the chairwoman and president of the Crown Heights North Association, Deborah Young, whose group sponsored the tour, said. "I don't think New York City had a real good understanding of what jewels we have in Crown Heights. It exposed us."

While homebuyers see the area's potential, new businesses are proving harder to attract. Along Nostrand, for example, many stores have old facades and rundown signs. Graffiti covers the security gates over the storefronts. While heavy on nail and hair salons and barbershops, the commercial strip lacks basic services such as a bank branch.

"People are buying nice homes and spending good money and there are no services," a project coordinator for the North Crown Heights Merchants Association, who is a sales agent with Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Barbara Brown-Allen, said. "They don't know the spending power that's here."

One newcomer agreed. In September a 40-year-old bachelor who works in business development on Wall Street, moved into a four-story, two-family home on Hampton Place that he bought for $870,000. The purchaser, who requested that he not be identified, said he spent more than a year hunting for a brownstone that would provide rental income for less than $1 million in Prospect Heights, Boerum Hill, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

"I must have looked at over 100 buildings in the past year," he said. "I bid on five and didn't get any. Every time I'd try to buy one there were 100 people just like me, just as well-funded, making the move. I kept getting outbid."

His house requires cosmetic improvements, and while it's not "dripping with details," it does have a fireplace, some wood molding and wainscoting, a beautiful garden, and a roof deck with views of Manhattan. His neighbors, who mostly are West Indian, are friendly and many are retired, he said. He is optimistic about the future.

"There aren't a lot of restaurants in the neighborhood," he said. "If there was something to patronize, I'd willingly spend money there. I'd like to see more amenities. People have money here. Somebody has to be the pioneer and open up something. It's just a matter of time."

One new shop is Crown Sky Café, which opened in July in a formerly vacant 800-square-foot storefront in the middle of Nostrand between Bergen Street and St. Mark's Avenue. Bright and cheerful, the eatery specializes in Caribbean and American cuisine. Takeout orders comprise most of the business, though the café can seat up to eight diners. Opening the restaurant was a longtime dream for Denise Robertson, who had worked as a caterer in the neighborhood for 10 years.

The rent is affordable, as commercial space along Nostrand can be leased for $25 to $30 a square foot, depending on the condition of the property, a director of sales at Massey Knakal Realty Services, Ira Krivit, said. He is marketing two properties for sale on Nostrand, a vacant three-story building that needs to be torn down — on a 40- by 100-foot parcel — for $990,000, and a small one-story, 600-square-foot shop housing a nail salon, for $295,000.

"You're seeing shop owners committed to providing a better retail experience," Mr. Krivit said. Retail property "will become more valuable as Prospect Heights moves eastward along Washington. The nice thing about Nostrand is the density of foot traffic."

Ms. Brown-Allen and other activists are exploring the formation of a business improvement district to revitalize Nostrand. In the meantime, the street is scheduled to get new trash containers, lights, and trees, Ms. Brown-Allen said. These improvements are needed desperately, as can be seen in a Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce survey conducted in 2005. Restaurants, banks, health clubs, and pharmacies topped the list of new businesses people would like to see open on Nostrand. Since the survey was taken, not much has changed, Ms. Brown-Allen said.

"We have to go out of our community to buy things," she said.

Published online 11-07-2007

Fillmore Expands, Buys Foxtons Listings -
1,400 New Listings Will be Added to Fillmore.com, MLS, NYTimes.com, Trulia.com

BROOKLYN — Brooklyn-based Fillmore Real Estate announced this week that it has purchased more than 1,400 New York area residential listings from Foxtons, which recently declared bankruptcy. Fillmore paid $110,000 for the listings, which will be listed on Fillmore.com, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), NYTimes.com, and Trulia.com as well as other premier listing sites, within the next few days, according to Fillmore President John Reinhardt.

The acquisition reinforces Fillmore’s status as New York City’s largest privately owned and operated residential real estate company. It expands the company’s footprint from its current base in Brooklyn, where it has more 500 agents and 17 offices, to now include listings throughout the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, as well as in Westchester and Long Island. In order to continue providing outstanding service and create a seamless transition for the homeowners involved, Fillmore expects to hire at least 40 of Foxtons’ highest-performing brokers by the end of this week. In addition, the company will soon launch new satellite offices, in specific locations to be announced shortly.

“Fillmore’s purchase will prove tremendously beneficial to the owners of properties previously listed by Foxtons, to the agents who represent them and, ultimately, to the entire Fillmore Real Estate organization,” said John Reinhardt, Fillmore’s president and chief executive officer. “The homeowners will have the comfort of knowing their properties are once again listed and, in many cases, they will continue to work with the same agent as before. The agents we hire who were formerly with Foxtons will maintain access to their listings and livelihood, and benefit from Fillmore’s renowned technology and marketing abilities as well as our long-term stability. And, finally, Fillmore itself is wonderfully positioned to substantially expand our presence throughout the greater New York City area. It is a win-win situation for all involved.”

According to Reinhardt, Fillmore has created one of the most exciting real estate sales concepts to hit the real estate industry in years. “We’ve remained focused on our traditional ways of marketing real estate, but the tasks and duties within the transaction will be assigned to designated specialists and experts on the team,” he said. The new team at Fillmore will be called “The Fillmore Fusion Team” and it will be managed by one of Foxtons’ former top managers, Michael P. Geraci. As a part of this process, ex-Foxtons brokers will attend Fillmore University to better familiarize themselves with the agency’s services, philosophies and programs.

To further support the agents, Fillmore has rented cars for many of the newly-hired brokers and purchased them laptop computers. The company has also hired additional support staff to assist the agents in their transactions. They will be able to continue to service their customers without any undue delay. “The Foxtons agents we’ve already brought on board are very enthusiastic and appreciative, and highly motivated to succeed,” Reinhardt noted.

The new listings acquired from Foxtons will incorporate the traditional commission rate of six percent, but Fillmore will honor any prior contractual agreements based on Foxtons’ commission rate of four percent.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Foxtons listings go to highest bidders Bankruptcy judge OKs sale of listings contracts

By Matt Carter Inman News

Consumers who enter into listing agreements with real estate brokerages are contracting for generic services that can be provided by any brokerage firm, and are not establishing a personal contract with an individual agent.

That's the view of the judge handling the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Foxtons Inc., in allowing the company to auction off about 4,300 listing agreements in New Jersey and New York to the highest bidder.

Maplewood Homebuilders LLC snatched up the lion's share of the listings, about 3,000 properties in New Jersey, for $100,000, plus a 10 percent referral fee for listings that close. The listings will be marketed by Century 21 Atlantic Realty, a Roselle Park, N.J., brokerage.

Brooklyn-based Fillmore Real Estate was the high bidder for roughly 1,300 listings in New York, which it paid $110,000 for plus the same 10 percent fee on commissions the listings generate.

Foxtons announced Sept. 26 that the company had terminated 350 of the company's 380 employees, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Oct. 5 in order to sell the company's assets and pay off creditors. Those assets included its listings, and databases of potential sellers, active buyers, and realtors who had worked with Foxtons.

More than 30 Foxtons clients filed objections to the sale and transfer of their listing agreements to another broker in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

Some claimed Foxtons had breached the agreements by not marketing their properties and worried that they could be sold to a broker with little expertise in their local market.

Howard Davis, an attorney representing the owner of a property in Irvington, N.J., told the court in an Oct. 22 letter that his client's life "has been in limbo" since listing his home with Foxtons shortly before the company filed for bankruptcy protection.

The property owner, retiree Paul Jones, had been unable to obtain any information from Foxtons, Davis wrote, and could not show the property. Davis said his client feared his listing would be sold to "someone who may have no idea of the market issues in Irvington, N.J., or with whom he does not have any type of personal rapport," and that listing would simply expire without a sale.

In an Oct. 29 order allowing the sale of listings to proceed, Judge Michael B. Kaplan dismissed those and other objections, saying the sale would be in the best interests of all parties.

"The judge said the classic example of a contract that can't be purchased or assigned is if you commissioned a painter to paint a portrait," said Joseph J. DiPasquale, an attorney representing Maplewood Homebuilders and Century 21 Atlantic.

In the case of listing agreements, "the court determined that you're not hiring an individual broker but a firm," DiPasquale said. "They list your home on the MLS, and they may come to your home, but it's not personal enough to not warrant the purchase and assignment" of the listing agreements.

Davis, however, argued that Jones selected Foxtons because of a personal relationship with an agent there, and that the agent was "not just simply a person who causes the listing to appear on a directory of houses available for sale."

"It doesn't seem like a very practical solution," Davis told Inman News. "Bankruptcy judges have an obligation to maximize assets for the benefit of creditors."

If brokers who obtain listings in a bankruptcy proceeding don't have local offices to serve their new clients, "it puts those (clients) at a significant disadvantage," Davis said, not only because it's hard to show a distant house, but because agents lack knowledge of the local market.

Under the order, Century 21 Atlantic and Fillmore Real Estate must honor Foxtons' discounted commission rate of 4 percent. While homeowners may cancel their listing contracts, they would be barred from listing with another agency for the duration of their contract, and subject to cancellation clauses.

DiPasquale warned other brokers against relisting homes previously handled by Foxtons, unless the original agreements have expired.

George A. Castro, president of Century 21 Atlantic, said the firm will provide better service on the listings than Foxtons did, referring distant clients to other Century 21 brokerages if necessary.

"Because we are a Century 21 franchise office, and there are many Century affiliates located throughout the state of New Jersey, that offers our organization a great opportunity to properly service these sellers, contrary to the relationship they had with Foxtons," Castro said.

Castro said that while Century 21 is committed to providing "full service" to former Foxtons clients at the 4 percent commission rate, sellers will have the option of bumping up commissions.

"My commitment is to provide full service at 4 percent, but in today's real estate market, that offers more challenges than opportunities, Castro said. "Home sellers should understand what the benefits of paying higher commissions are ... we are going to leave it to them to decide whether it would be appropriate to offer more incentives to cooperating brokers by increasing the commission from 4 percent, up to whatever makes the listing more appealing to other brokers."

Castro said that 90 percent of the former Foxtons clients Century 21 Atlantic has contacted "have understood it's beneficial for them to increase the commission and decrease the (listing) price to reflect today's market conditions and today's market values."

Fillmore Real Estate President and Chief Executive Officer John Reinhardt said he became interested in bidding for Foxtons' New York listings after receiving calls from some of the troubled broker's sellers in Brooklyn.

"We offered to help them with no listing fee," Reinhardt said of Foxtons clients. "Then I was looking out for the agents -- we'd already attracted a dozen (Foxtons) agents, and they were also getting left out there to hang."

Fillmore has hired 25 former Foxtons agents and "I see a whole bunch more coming on board," Reinhardt said. The new hires, he said, give Fillmore the ability to serve former Foxtons clients in Westchester, Queens, Long Island and other areas.

"These guys are motivated and this train is going fast," Reinhardt said. All of the former Foxtons listings acquired by Fillmore are live on the broker's Web site or will be within 48 hours, he said, and the new agents "are all calling like crazy and setting up interviews."

Like Century 21 Atlantic, Fillmore will provide full listing services for a 4 percent commission, as stipulated in the original Foxtons listings contracts. But Fillmore has "already been successful in making people understand the advantages" of full commissions in marketing their properties, Reinhardt said.

Foxtons and an attorney representing the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sun October 31, 2007

Fillmore Rises, As Foxtons Sinks

By BRADLEY HOPE

A 40-year-old Brooklyn real estate firm is using the summer's subprime meltdown as a stepping-stone from which to expand into the other boroughs and Long Island. Fillmore Real Estate has traditionally focused exclusively on Brooklyn, but when Foxtons's executives announced the company was going bankrupt earlier this month, Fillmore's president, John Reinhardt, said he saw an opportunity.

Yesterday, his company bought 1,400 of Foxtons's listings for $110,000. This week, he hired 15 of that company's former brokers and he plans to hire as many as 50 more in the next two weeks. "This means we are going to be a regional player," Mr. Reinhardt said. The listings are predominantly in Queens, the Bronx, and Long Island. There are also a handful of listings in Manhattan and Staten Island, he said.

To accommodate this sudden growth spurt — the equivalent of fulfilling the company's two-year plan in two days — Mr. Reinhardt said he had to hire several sign manufacturers, put his information technology team on around-the-clock schedules, and begin a training program for the new agents joining his staff.

The Foxtons purchase will increase Fillmore's listings by nearly 50%, to 4,400, and the number of agents by about 8%, to 650. Mr. Reinhardt said he was also planning to open offices in each of the new regions where he now has listings. A lawyer for Foxtons, John Blomquist, did not return a call for comment yesterday.

Foxtons arrived in the New York market in 2003 amid much fanfare about the company's 2% commissions, just a third the standard 6% fee collected by brokers in the city. The office in New York was a subsidiary of the main Foxtons company in London, a city where the average commission rate between 2% and 3%.

The company spent as much as $13 million on advertising when it rolled out its new office, according to published reports.

Foxtons eventually had to raise its commission rate to 4% because of revenue problems, and in September the company fired 350 of its 380 employees, saying the market had "turned into a sharp decline." On October 2, the company filed for bankruptcy. Mr. Reinhardt said Foxtons "spent too much money in marketing and advertising."

"The climate has changed," he said. "It's harder to sell a home. You need professional real estate agents. … They benefited from an abnormal market where anything could sell. Now it's back to normal."

 
Daily Real Estate News | October 29, 2007

Court Allows Bankrupt Foxtons to Sell Listings

A federal court decision last week cleared the way for real estate companies to purchase thousands of New Jersey and New York property listings held by bankrupt discount brokerage Foxtons.

Rahway, N.J.-based Maplewood Homes will buy more than 3,400 New Jersey listings for $100,000, while Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Fillmore Real Estate is spending $110,000 for hundreds of listings in New York.

When the West Long Branch, N.J.-based Foxtons filed for bankruptcy, it sought to sell its listings, but nearly 30 homeowners asked the bankruptcy court to void their contracts so they could sign agreements with other real estate practitioners.

But the bankruptcy court ruled that Foxtons customers who signed a three- or six-month contract would be customers of Century 21 Atlantic Realty, which has agreed to market the New Jersey homes for Maplewood, or of Fillmore Real Estate, which will market the New York homes.

When Foxtons was founded in 1999, its associates were paid salaries and customers were charged 2 percent. Eventually, commissions were raised to motivate agents to show Foxtons' homes. A private-equity firm bought the company in May.

Source: The Associated Press (10/27/07)

Real Estate Weekly - Fillmore's Big Move
By Maggie Hawryluc

Brooklyn firm leapfrogs into regional market with Foxtons purchase

Brooklyn-based Fillmore Real Estate will acquire 1,400 New York listings previously held by the now bankrupt Foxtons following court approval yesterday (Tuesday).

“In this down market - or what people are calling a down market - we're excited to have this to rally around”, said John Reinhardt, chief executive officer and president of Fillmore.

Fillmore is paying $110,000 for the listings and has hired 12 former Foxtons agents more once the deal is done.

"The home sellers should be happy because they hired these trusted agents and they can continue to work with them", Reinhardt said, adding that the agents will be following the traditional real estate model, earning 6% commission rather than the 2% Foxtons offered.

The addition of the listings is a major boost for Fillmore, which plans to open additional offices to better accommodate the growth in business and hire up to100 new agents by the end of the year.

"We've become a regional player overnight," said Reinhardt

New Jersey-based Foxtons filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, claiming slowing business due to the downturn in the residential market. The firm worked to liquidate and gain authorization from the courts to sell its listings.

New Jersey-based Maplewood Homes will purchase more than 3,400 New Jersey listings for $100,000.

Sunday, 28 October 2007 | 5:25AM

Bankrupt Foxtons to Sell Real Estate Listings

TRENTON (1010 WINS) -- Thousands of real estate listings held by the now-bankrupt discount brokerage Foxtons can be sold to other companies.

That's the ruling from a federal judge.

That clears the way for Rahway-based Maplewood Homes to buy more than 3,400 New Jersey listings for $100,000. And Brooklyn, New York-based Fillmore Real Estate is spending $110,000 for hundreds of more listings in New York.

West Long Branch-based Foxtons recently filed for bankruptcy, citing its slumping business due to the downturn in the housing market.

When it sought to sell the listings, more than 30 homeowners sought to void their contracts so they could sign agreements with other real estate agents.

But the judge rejected their arguments.

October 29, 2007 | 5:12 pm Brooklyn agency buys Foxtons listings Brooklyn-based Fillmore Real Estate has won the bidding for Foxtons' sale of 1,400 home listings in the New York metro area for $110,000, plus fees and commissions, after Foxtons declared bankruptcy earlier this month. The homes are located mostly in the outer boroughs and Westchester. Fillmore CEO John Reinhardt also said he recently recruited 15 Foxtons agents to his company, prior to the bidding, and plans to hire on another 25 in the near future. Reinhardt said he plans to keep commissions on the former Foxtons listings at the original 4 percent, but bring some of them up to the industry standard 6 percent. Foxtons, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct 5th, recently agreed to sell its New Jersey listings to a joint venture of Century 21 Atlantic Realty and Maplewood Homebuilders. TRD

Fillmore Real Estate CEO John Reinhardt

 

5:19 PM EDT | October 27, 2007

Judge allows bankrupt Foxtons to sell real estate listings

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Thousands of real estate listings held by the now-bankrupt discount brokerage Foxtons can be sold to other companies, a federal judge has ruled.

The decision issued Friday clears the way for Rahway-based Maplewood Homes to buy more than 3,400 New Jersey listings for $100,000, while Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Fillmore Real Estate is spending $110,000 for hundreds of more listings in New York.

West Long Branch-based Foxtons recently filed for bankruptcy, citing its slumping business due to the downturn in the housing market. When it sough to sell the listings, more than 30 homeowners asked the bankruptcy court to void their contracts so they could sign agreements with other real estate agents.

However, the bankruptcy court judge ruled that Foxtons customers who signed a three- or six-month contract will now be customers of Century 21 Atlantic Reality _ which has agreed to market the New Jersey homes for Maplewood _ or Fillmore Real Estate, with the same contract terms.

Foxtons was founded in 1999 on the principle that consumers should not pay a 6 percent commission. Instead, its agents were paid salaries and customers were charged 2 percent.

The company was sold in 2004 and, eventually, commissions were raised to motivate agents to show Foxtons' homes. A private-equity firm then bought the company in May.

 Oct 27, 2007 7:30 pm US/Eastern

Judge Allows Bankrupt Foxtons To Sell Listings

TRENTON (AP) ― Thousands of real estate listings held by the now-bankrupt discount brokerage Foxtons can be sold to other companies, a federal judge has ruled.

The decision issued Friday clears the way for Rahway-based Maplewood Homes to buy more than 3,400 New Jersey listings for $100,000, while Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Fillmore Real Estate is spending $110,000 for hundreds of more listings in New York.

West Long Branch-based Foxtons recently filed for bankruptcy, citing its slumping business due to the downturn in the housing market. When it sough to sell the listings, more than 30 homeowners asked the bankruptcy court to void their contracts so they could sign agreements with other real estate agents.

However, the bankruptcy court judge ruled that Foxtons customers who signed a three- or six-month contract will now be customers of Century 21 Atlantic Reality—which has agreed to market the New Jersey homes for Maplewood—or Fillmore Real Estate, with the same contract terms.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Bankruptcy judge clears sale of listings held by Foxtons

BY SAM ALI Star-Ledger Staff

For thousands of Foxtons customers, the wait is finally over.

More than 3,400 New Jersey real estate listings that had been in limbo since the discount brokerage filed for bankruptcy protection last month will be sold to another brokerage, a federal judge in Trenton ruled yesterday.

The New Jersey listings were bought by Rahway-based Maplewood Homes for $100,000. Hundreds more Foxtons listings in New York were sold to Fillmore Real Estate, a Brooklyn-based brokerage, for $110,000. The proceeds of the sale will be used to pay Foxtons creditors.

Maplewood Homes, started by Lakewood investor and developer Glen Fishman, is the same firm that recently bailed out another victim of the housing market slowdown, Kara Homes, an East Brunswick-based homebuilder that filed for bankruptcy last year.

During yesterday's hearing, Joseph DePasquale, an attorney representing Maplewood Homes, said the developer had formed a joint venture with Century 21 Atlantic Realty, a brokerage based in Roselle Park, to service the Foxtons listings.

Michael Holt, an attorney who represents Foxtons in the bankruptcy case, said Century 21 and Fillmore real estate agents could start contacting Foxtons homeowners as soon as Monday. The judge's decision means Foxtons customers who signed three- or six-month contracts with Foxtons will now become customers of Century 21 Atlantic or Fillmore under the same terms, including a discounted commission of 4 percent.

Judge Michael Kaplan said homeowners are free to cancel their contracts at any time, but would be prohibited from listing with another agency for the length of their Foxtons contract, and would also be bound by any cancellation clauses.

More than 30 homeowners sent letters to the bankruptcy court objecting to the sale of the listings to another brokerage and asking the judge to void their contracts because Foxtons had not performed its contractual duties.

The judge's decision was a particular blow for homeowners like 63-year-old Judith Street, a Burlington resident who is locked in a six-month listing agreement with Foxtons to sell her four-bedroom home for $279,000. She signed her listing agreement one week before Foxtons filed for bankruptcy.

As such, there was no time for the real estate agent she hired to take any pictures of her home and post them on Foxtons Web site.

"My home was never even put on the multiple listing service," Street told the judge. After the hearing, a disappointed Street shook her head.

"It didn't go our way, that's for sure," she said. "The least (the judge) could have done was erase the 30 people who objected to the sale in writing. He could have at least excluded us."

In making his ruling, Kaplan said the listing agreements did not fall under the law's definition of "personal contracts," meaning they were not unique to each individual homeowner. As such, they could be assigned to another brokerage without anything of real import getting lost in the transfer.

Kaplan acknowledged Foxtons was "derelict in its obligations" to homeowners, but said that he was satisfied the large network of real estate agents at Century 21 and Fillmore would handle the volume of listings and provide services to stranded homeowners far better than Foxtons ever did.

George Castro, the president and founder of the brokerage, described Century 21 Atlantic Realty, which employs about 120 agents, as "the No. 1 Century 21 franchise in New Jersey and Delaware." Still, Kaplan sought assurances from Century 21 and Fillmore that their agents would treat Foxtons homeowners the same as their other customers, even though they are technically earning a lower commission -- 4 percent instead of the standard 5 percent or 6 percent.

"What incentive is there for brokers to market these properties at 4 percent?" Kaplan asked Castro. "If I may be honest, it is the volume of the listings being dealt with," Castro said.

In addition to the upfront payments for the listings, Maplewood/Century 21 and Fillmore must also pay Foxtons' bankruptcy estate a 10 percent referral fee for any listings that actually close. The money eventually will be used to pay off Foxtons creditors.

Maplewood Homes and Fillmore won the listings in a bidding process that concluded Thursday. Holt, the bankruptcy attorney, said eight parties had presented offers to buy the Foxtons listings, including one bid as low as $500.

Foxtons, a pioneer in offering discount real estate brokerage services, last month laid off 350 of its 380 employees and announced it was shutting its doors. It filed for bankruptcy one week later.

Oct 27, 2007 | 5:19 PM EDT

Judge allows bankrupt Foxtons to sell real estate listings

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Thousands of real estate listings held by the now-bankrupt discount brokerage Foxtons can be sold to other companies, a federal judge has ruled. The decision issued Friday clears the way for Rahway-based Maplewood Homes to buy more than 3,400 New Jersey listings for $100,000, while Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Fillmore Real Estate is spending $110,000 for hundreds of more listings in New York.

West Long Branch-based Foxtons recently filed for bankruptcy, citing its slumping business due to the downturn in the housing market. When it sough to sell the listings, more than 30 homeowners asked the bankruptcy court to void their contracts so they could sign agreements with other real estate agents.

However, the bankruptcy court judge ruled that Foxtons customers who signed a three- or six-month contract will now be customers of Century 21 Atlantic Reality - which has agreed to market the New Jersey homes for Maplewood - or Fillmore Real Estate, with the same contract terms.

Foxtons was founded in 1999 on the principle that consumers should not pay a 6 percent commission. Instead, its agents were paid salaries and customers were charged 2 percent.

The company was sold in 2004 and, eventually, commissions were raised to motivate agents to show Foxtons' homes. A private-equity firm then bought the company in May.

Judge Allows Foxtons to Sell Real Estate

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - October 27, 2007 - Thousands of real estate listings held by the now-bankrupt discount brokerage Foxtons can be sold to other companies. That's the ruling a federal judge issued yesterday.

That clears the way for Rahway-based Maplewood Homes to buy more than 3,400 New Jersey listings for $100,000. And Brooklyn, New York-based Fillmore Real Estate is spending $110,000 for hundreds of more listings in New York.

West Long Branch-based Foxtons recently filed for bankruptcy, citing its slumping business due to the downturn in the housing market.

When it sought to sell the listings, more than 30 homeowners sought to void their contracts so they could sign agreements with other real estate agents. But the judge rejected their arguments.

Foxtons Listings Sold - Oct 27, 2007

Bankruptcy judge clears sale of listings held by Foxtons

More than 3,400 New Jersey real estate listings that had been in limbo since the discount brokerage filed for bankruptcy protection last month will be sold to another brokerage, a federal judge in Trenton ruled yesterday.

The New Jersey listings were bought by Rahway-based Maplewood Homes for $100,000. Hundreds more Foxtons listings in New York were sold to Fillmore Real Estate, a Brooklyn-based brokerage, for $110,000. The proceeds of the sale will be used to pay Foxtons creditors.

Maplewood Homes, started by Lakewood investor and developer Glen Fishman, is the same firm that recently bailed out another victim of the housing market slowdown, Kara Homes, an East Brunswick-based homebuilder that filed for bankruptcy last year.

During yesterday’s hearing, Joseph DePasquale, an attorney representing Maplewood Homes, said the developer had formed a joint venture with Century 21 Atlantic Realty, a brokerage based in Roselle Park, to service the Foxtons listings.

Michael Holt, an attorney who represents Foxtons in the bankruptcy case, said Century 21 and Fillmore real estate agents could start contacting Foxtons homeowners as soon as Monday.

The judge’s decision means Foxtons customers who signed three- or six-month contracts with Foxtons will now become customers of Century 21 Atlantic or Fillmore under the same terms, including a discounted commission of 4 percent.

Judge Michael Kaplan said homeowners are free to cancel their contracts at any time, but would be prohibited from listing with another agency for the length of their Foxtons contract, and would also be bound by any cancellation clauses.

More than 30 homeowners sent letters to the bankruptcy court objecting to the sale of the listings to another brokerage and asking the judge to void their contracts because Foxtons had not performed its contractual duties.

Asbury Park Press on 10/26/07


Judge approves sale of Foxtons listings

BY MICHAEL L. DIAMOND BUSINESS WRITER

TRENTON — The home listings of Foxtons North America's New Jersey customers will be sold to Maplewood Homebuilders -- the successor to bankrupt Kara Homes Inc. -- and marketed by Century 21 Atlantic Realty under an agreement approved Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The decision came after Bankruptcy Judge Michael B. Kaplan weighed the wishes of Foxtons and its creditors with more than 30 Foxtons customers who asked to be let out of their listing agreements so they could find new brokers on their own.

In the end, the judge said he was persuaded that the team of Maplewood and Century 21 "can provide the very services that Foxtons wasn't providing.''

The ruling marked a key moment in the case. The West Long Branch-based real estate agency, which touted discounted commissions, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 5, saying the downturn in the housing market made it too difficult to continue. The company reported $488,000 in assets and $40.9 million in liabilities.

To repay creditors, Foxtons sought to sell what it considered its biggest asset -- the listing agreements of about 4,400 customers in New Jersey and New York. It received eight bids at an auction Thursday, ranging from $500 to $110,000, Foxtons attorney Michael Holt said.

The company ran into complaints from customers who said they should have been allowed to choose their own agent, because Foxtons didn't live up to its end of the contract.

Kaplan allowed Foxtons to sell its New Jersey listings to a joint venture formed by Maplewood, which recently acquired bankrupt Kara Homes Inc., and Century 21 for $100,000, plus fees and commissions. And it agreed to sell its New York listings to Fillmore Real Estate for $110,000, plus fees and commissions.

Maplewood also agreed to buy other Foxtons assets, such as its software system for $100,000.

"Foxtons was one of the premier real-estate companies in terms of being able to generate leads, listings, walk-through of houses,'' said Glen Fishman, a Lakewood developer who started Maplewood. "In today's market, where everybody's competing for a limited number of buyers, we wanted to take the best system to move our product.''

Forward Thinkers: How Fillmore Real Estate Maximizes Technology



By Stephanie Andre

RISMEDIA, Oct. 17, 2007-With the month-old relaunch of its Web site and a technology-embracing attitude, Fillmore Real Estate believes it is doing what’s best for the consumer-giving buyers and sellers more data, more photos and more of everything they could possibly need to help guide one of the most important financial decisions a person makes in his/her life.

“Technology is so important today,” says John Reinhardt, president and CEO of Brooklyn, New York-based Fillmore Real Estate. “The technology behind our old Web site was similar to hosting a home magazine online with some pictures. We knew we needed our portal to be more about the customer experience-that’s where we truly wanted to be.”

In this interview, Reinhardt dishes on the Amazon.com-esque comparisons to his company’s new site, how he believes it’s going to help Fillmore distinguish itself, and why he believes the real estate industry is sometimes so fearful of change.

Real Estate Magazine: Fillmore Real Estate has recently undergone an extensive online transformation. Can you talk about this process and the decision to take on such a sizeable task?

John Reinhardt: Technology is so important today and it’s always changing. The technology behind our old Web site was similar to hosting a home magazine online with some pictures. We knew we needed our portal to be more about the customer experience-that’s where we truly wanted to be.

RE: How does this new site differ from some that on the surface seem quite similar?

JR: The type of data being gathered on our new site is comparable to Amazon.com. After logging on to MyFillmore.com, visitors create an account where they can save properties, check out “recently viewed” listings and set up automatic alerts. It’s similar to Amazon.com in that the foundation of the site is created in layers. For example, eventually these users will have their page come up and say, “People who looked at this listing also looked at…” It’s a pretty cool thing that we’ve been able to do.

Plus, consumers can now search for information on neighborhoods-neighborhood profiles that we actually wrote ourselves. These weren’t farmed out to a company who does the research; they’re authentic because, honestly, who knows Brooklyn better than we do? We’ll be able to update information regularly-as things change. We know what’s happening before anyone else. They’re very detailed and we’re very proud of them. You’ll be able to click on “Bay Ridge” and see what the neighborhood is really about. We’ll also show a few properties that are available and some that were sold so visitors can see what it’s like in that area. They’ll be able to continue to click deeper into that information.

RE: How will this best help your sales agents?

JR: The new platform is a great thing for our sales agents; now each of their clients can sit down with us and set up their myfillmore.com account with them. They can find out about new listings as soon as they become available. Plus, our agents can gain access to their clients’ profiles with permission. They can now say, “We’re in this together.” Our agents can look at the profiles, call and say, “I see you were looking at these two properties-is there anything else I can tell you about them?” It helps them share the experience. Plus, for sellers, it automatically keeps track of the number of times their property is viewed, shown, had requests for more information or e-mailed to friends. Gathering this information and these statistics will enhance and create the ultimate consumer experience. Over the next six months, our library of information will continue to grow and grow.

RE: Can you explain the upgraded search function?

JR: For agents, they will benefit by all the new searches. It used to be that visitors were unable to type in Main Street and actually get results. Now, our searches are so much more sophisticated. You can type in the first few digits of an address and or search by property ID number. For consumers, it’s just an easier tool-you can even do searches for open houses.

RE: What are you doing at Fillmore with regard to other technology, such as blogs, podcasting and video?

JR: We have podcasting on certain topics and video on some homes. Plus, we just started a blog on some brand-new units we are listing. We’re still exploring and I’m curious to see where all of this will take us. Our younger agents are much more involved with some of this technology, as well as some of the social networking sites. New-age agents and brokers are more in tune with the online community. Just as the older generations would go to civic club meetings, etc., to get to know those in their community, the younger professionals are networking with people in their own community online-they have specialty blogs and/or forums for different local communities and are well-known in that community. It’s amazing to me.

RE: Where do you see the industry going in terms of marketing?

JR: I see a combination of things; we’ll need different mediums as we move ahead. The online vertical searches, I believe, are part of the solution. They’re not the end-all-and-be-all, but useful. Look at the New York Times-their online advertising is up, while their print is down. It is a fact-people are migrating from newspapers to online. Even in the old days, it wasn’t just the Times, but it was local and national advertising as well. Even today, if you are listing homes in a blue-collar neighborhood, you would advertise in a blue-collar trade publication. There’s a need for both print and online; people just need to find that balance.

RE: Why are others in the real estate industry so afraid of technological advancements?

JR: People are comfortable and afraid of change. But, we’re in a good time-we have a good number of brokers that are old enough to run a company, yet young enough to like technology. We looked at the Amazon experience and thought, “Why can’t we do that here?” We try to apply basic concepts online and incorporate them into the industry. For us at Fillmore, we see opportunity in technology.

Fillmore Real Estate: Yesterday and Today

Founded in 1966 by John Reinhardt’s father, Bill Reinhardt, today, Fillmore Real Estate is New York City’s largest privately owned and operated residential and commercial real estate company. In 1993, when John Reinhardt first became president, the company had 14 offices with 125 agents. Under his leadership, the company has grown to its current number of 18 offices and more than 500 agents. Today, the company also offers a variety of services, including: Fillmore Management and Fillmore Insurance.

Not Just About Technology

Besides its push toward technology, Fillmore Real Estate also realizes that when it comes to its agents-especially in the new, more normalizing market-there can never be enough education and training.

“We’ve bumped up our training program,” says John Reinhardt, president and CEO of Fillmore Real Estate. “With so much changing in the market, our agents need that training and education. We have a national speaker/coach come in three times a month. They focus on agent strategies, workshops and accountability; it’s a more intensive training program and more detailed. Now, with the subprime changes, we’re also talking about financing. We’re teaching our agents how to talk to sellers about adjusting their price in market, doing the best we can to ensure that the property is priced right.”

10/01/2007

Who's In Your Pocket Now? The Foxtons' Bankruptcy by Blanche Evans

After blowing through approximately $62 million in private investors' money, plus another $40 million from Foxtons' CEO Jon Hunt, New Jersey-based "full-service discount" broker Foxtons North America declared bankruptcy on October 5, 2007. Foxtons' sellers who were still under contract were threatened with lawsuits by the company if they canceled their listings. Then, they were stuck with no service until a hearing on October 27, when a federal bankruptcy judge sold them like slaves to other brokers

With assets of only $488,000 and liabilities of $40.9 million (with Hunt as the largest debtor) Foxtons considered its listing contracts as assets, along with its customer databases, furniture, computers, and non-leased corporate vehicles.

According to Asbury Park Press business writer, Michael Diamond, who attended the bankruptcy proceedings, about 4,400 sellers were left in limbo between the time Foxtons filed for bankruptcy and Judge Kaplan's ruling that the listings could be sold.

The case is interesting because it introduces a question most sellers never consider -- what happens to me and my home if my broker declares bankruptcy?

If the ruling in New Jersey is any precedent, the seller loses the right to terminate the agreement -- regardless of the poor quality of services from the broker.

According to Diamond, more than 30 homeowners wrote the bankruptcy court protesting the sale of their listings to other brokers, and asking the judge to void their contracts. Judge Kaplan ruled that the homeowners are free to cancel their contracts, but that they would not be allowed to list with another company for the length of their Foxtons' contract, and they would be bound by any cancellation clauses. Such clauses can be stifling, as the broker may require being paid even if the seller lists with another company. In this case, the sellers are better off going with the new brokers assigned by the court.

Experts disagree on whether or not a contract in a bankruptcy case is enforceable, but bankruptcy courts have broad powers, says Laurie Janik, general counsel for the National Association of Realtors.

"It seems unfair to me that a seller gets stuck using the services of a broker that seller did not select," says Janick. "The judge is most likely attempting to sell the "assets' of the company in order to recover some money to pay the creditors. His alternative is to permit these sellers to re-list their properties with the broker of their choice and the value of those existing listing contracts would be lost."

Judge Kaplan, reported Diamond, said in his ruling that the listing agreements "did not fall under the law's definition of "personal contracts," meaning they were not unique to each individual homeowner."

That way the contracts could be transferred to other brokers at the same terms, including four percent commissions.

Eight brokers stepped up to buy the listings at an auction that concluded the day before the court hearing, including Maplewood Homes which paid $100,000 for the New Jersey listings in a joint venture with Century 21 Atlantic Realty, and Fillmore Real Estate, which purchased the New York listings for $110,000. Both companies are obliged to pay a 10 percent referral fee for any listings that sell.

George Castro, president of Century 21 Atlantic Realty, told the court that he was interested in the listings because of the volume and assured the court that Century 21 would honor the terms, but in an interview following the proceedings, he told a reporter that he would ask the homeowners to consider paying a higher commission to attract more buyers.

What's unnerving about this whole situation is that Foxtons' clients weren't notified about the court proceedings and learned about it only from reading the newspapers, say bloggers. They weren't considered creditors, whether or not they had paid Foxtons any money up front.

"Maybe all of us customers should send letters to the judge asking him to give us an unconditional release from our contracts since Foxtons won't take our calls or answer our emails," wrote one disgruntled blogger.

Another suggested writing Judge Kaplan directly and asking to be released unconditionally from his Foxtons' contract. (Hon. Judge Michael B. Kaplan, United States Bankruptcy Court for District of New Jersey, Clarkson S. Fisher US Courthouse; 402 East State Street, Trenton, New Jersey 08608, RE: 07, 24497.)

"Do not sit by and let the Bankruptcy Court dictate who will sell your home," wrote another blogger. "It is your choice, Foxtons is in BREACH OF CONTRACT and these contracts must be voided."

Ownership of the listing is slowly being wrested away from the seller. The Department of Justice says all listings should be shared with all MLS-participating brokers online even if that's not what the seller wants. Now, a bankruptcy court is saying that listings are an asset of the broker that can be sold.

Home sellers watching this proceeding are going to have only one takeaway -- that listing with a broker is risky.

Fillmore Real Estate Purchases More than 1,400 Foxtons Listings in NYC Area

RISMEDIA, Nov. 1, 2007-Brooklyn-based Fillmore Real Estate announced that it has purchased more than 1,400 New York area residential listings from Foxtons, which recently declared bankruptcy. Fillmore paid $110,000 for the listings, which will be listed on Fillmore.com, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), NYTimes.com, and Trulia.com, as well as other premier listing sites, within the next few days.

The company says that the acquisition reinforces Fillmore’s status as one of New York City’s largest privately owned and operated residential real estate companies. It expands the company’s footprint from its current base in Brooklyn, where it has more 500 agents and 17 offices, to now include listings throughout the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, as well as in Westchester and Long Island. In order to continue providing outstanding service and create a seamless transition for the homeowners involved, Fillmore expects to hire at least 40 of Foxtons’ highest-performing brokers by the end of this week. In addition, the company will soon launch new satellite offices, in specific locations to be announced shortly.

“Fillmore’s purchase will prove tremendously beneficial to the owners of properties previously listed by Foxtons, to the agents who represent them and, ultimately, to the entire Fillmore Real Estate organization,” said John Reinhardt, Fillmore’s president and chief executive officer. “The homeowners will have the comfort of knowing their properties are once again listed and, in many cases, they will continue to work with the same agent as before. The agents we hire who were formerly with Foxtons will maintain access to their listings and livelihood, and benefit from Fillmore’s renowned technology and marketing abilities as well as our long-term stability. And, finally, Fillmore itself is wonderfully positioned to substantially expand our presence throughout the greater New York City area. It is a win-win situation for all involved.”

According to Reinhardt, Fillmore has created one of the most exciting real estate sales concepts to hit the real estate industry in years.

“We’ve remained focused on our traditional ways of marketing real estate, but the tasks and duties within the transaction will be assigned to designated specialists and experts on the team,” he said. The new team at Fillmore will be called “The Fillmore Fusion Team” and it will be managed by one of Foxtons’ former top managers, Michael P. Geraci. As a part of this process, ex-Foxtons brokers will attend Fillmore University to better familiarize themselves with the agency’s services, philosophies and programs. To further support the agents, Fillmore has rented cars for many of the newly-hired brokers and purchased them laptop computers. The company has also hired additional support staff to assist the agents in their transactions. They will be able to continue to service their customers without any undue delay.

“The Foxtons agents we’ve already brought on board are very enthusiastic and appreciative, and highly motivated to succeed,” Reinhardt noted. The new listings acquired from Foxtons will incorporate the traditional commission rate of six percent, but Fillmore will honor any prior contractual agreements based on Foxtons’ commission rate of four percent.

New York Post

April 19, 2007

"'Wick'ed Cool" Chic, Affordable Buildings Are On The Rise In Bushwick

By Adam Bonislawski

A few years back, the idea of new condo construction in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood wasn’t exactly an easy sell. "I remember one broker," says Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Lisa Maysonet. "He sat at the table banging his fist, asking me who did I think I was, telling me that I was never going to get $350 a square foot in Bushwick that they weren’t even getting $350 a square foot in East Williamsburg." As it turns out, that fist-banging broker was right. Maysonet’s project at 101 Wyckoff Ave., just off the Dekalb L stop (seven stops past Williamsburg’s Bedford stop) didn’t get $350 a foot. It got $500. More than 800 people put their names on the waiting list for one of the loft building’s 32 apartments. Within six weeks of opening for sales in September of last year, the now-sold-out project had found buyers for 75 percent of its units. All the same, it’s understandable that Maysonet’s vision for Bushwick would be greeted with an initial dose of skepticism. After all, this Brooklyn area has never been exactly what you’d call a destination neighborhood. Yes, space-hungry artists and your more pioneering hipster types have been quietly carving out niches there for years, but new condo construction in the area was, until recently, all but unheard of. Today, though, new condos are rising throughout Bushwick. Vintage Builders just completed an eight-unit building at 979 Willoughby St., with one-bedrooms starting at $465,000 and two-bedroom triplexes starting at $688,000. All units include garages. Century 21 NYMetro has the listings. In addition to 101 Wyckoff and 768 Hart St. (a six-unit walk-up with three-bedrooms going for $449,000), Maysonet represents new buildings at 93-95 Wyckoff (with one-bedrooms starting at $289,000) and 1271 Decatur St. (where one-bedrooms are available for $299,000). Four other area condo projects she plans to represent are still in the approval stages. David Maundrell, president of Aptsandlofts.com, has also seen the condo wave make its way into Bushwick. "A lot of people are still getting their feet wet," he says. "There are a lot of landlords out there who own a lot of property who are doing rentals right now. But as the leases expire, they may turn them into condos after seeing how things go. You're going to start seeing numerous buildings on the market all at once." Maundrell first entered the Bushwick condo market by representing a six-unit building at 1265 Decatur. With units ranging from $239,000 (for a 660-square-foot one-bedroom with a den) to $349,000 (for an 1,100-square-foot one-bedroom duplex with a den, garden and cellar), the building sold out in about a month. He's now working on several other condos in the neighborhood, among them another six-unit building at 241 Troutman St., with two-bedroom units and 1,000-square-foot-lofts ranging from $305,000 to $459,000, and a building at 1060 Putnam Ave., with two-bedroom units starting at $249,000. "You have a mixture of people coming here," Maundrell says. "It's attracting people from Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy. You have people moving from Ridgewood, Queens. It's attracting people who are looking in Williamsburg and Greenpoint but just can't find enough space for the dollar amount." For fashion designer Glenna Dilone, who moved last year to a loft apartment at 101 Wyckoff that she shares with her husband and infant son, Bushwick simply offered the best value in the borough. "We searched Brooklyn high and low," she says, "But for the money, this area had the most to offer." And, as stores and restaurants open to serve recent arrivals like Dilone, the neighborhood is becoming even more inviting. "Five years ago, it was like backpacking in New York City," says Abby Crain, a dancer who lives off the Morgan L stop with her husband and 21/2-year-old daughter. "You had to pack all your groceries in because once you got here there was nothing. That's changed. There's a place to get groceries now, a good coffee shop, a great bar. " Dilone says she's noticed "restaurants popping up, streets getting facelifts, stores getting new awnings. It's becoming a friendlier neighborhood." Longtime Bushwick resident Andy Belez remembers when Maria Hernandez Park, just down the street from Dilone's new home, was essentially an open-air drug market. Now the park, which received a $1.9 million face-lift in 2003, is filled with ballplayers and families. Just south of Maria Hernandez, Knickerbocker Avenue has turned into a thriving retail strip. "The area has changed a lot," Belez says. "People are starting to fix up buildings. People from the city are moving to the area." And instead of attracting only artists, Bushwick is drawing in another sort of customer - what Maysonet calls "artsy yuppies." "They're artsy in look and feel," she says, "but not in occupation." Len Moroz, co-owner of Potion Café in the McKibben Lofts building near the border of Bushwick and East Williamsburg, agrees. "Prices have gone up in the area," he notes, "so you're seeing less artists and more people with jobs that pay for real." Nick Mastropierro, a broker with Fillmore Real Estate, is seeing more interest from investors looking to buy multi-family buildings in Bushwick. "The investor is always the savviest buyer because it's a business," he says. "And the investors have heard enough of the vibe of what's happening here and are starting to get on board. "They definitely want to be here, whereas three or four years ago, they wouldn't have even thought about it." None of this is to say, of course, that the neighborhood is about to turn into the West Village. As Maysonet admits, Bushwick still appeals mostly to those with an appreciation - some might say tolerance - for the gritty side of city life. "Some people, you could give them an apartment for free and they're still not going to live here," she says. "They still have to really like this kind of gentrifying neighborhood." For those who do, though, Bushwick represents a chance to get in early on an area that looks to be on the rise. Low prices, easy access to the city on the L train, new stores and apartments and eateries opening - what's an urban pioneer not to love? "It's what Williamsburg was in the '90s," Moroz says. "It's what SoHo was in the '80s." "There's a lot of potential," Dilone says. "It keeps getting better and better."

The New York Times

August 20, 2006

Living In | Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

"An Old Neighborhood Grows Up Again"

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG

VITO BUZZETTA, a bricklayer who has lived in Bensonhurst for 33 years, stood in his driveway on a recent afternoon — hose in one hand, watering can in another — and gestured toward a six-story apartment building under construction across the street. “Look what they did,” he said. “It’s too big.” Mr. Buzzetta’s opinion is a popular one in the neighborhood. In recent years, a seemingly endless series of hulking condominium apartment complexes has sprouted on the low-rise, residential blocks that define Bensonhurst. The trend is part of a citywide housing boom that is transforming neighborhoods in all five boroughs. Last year, the city issued permits for 31,600 new housing units, the most in a single year since 1972. In Bensonhurst alone, the city approved about 1,200 units from 2002 to 2005. The condo explosion has inspired a small insurrection in this corner of southwest Brooklyn, where long-time residents like Lorraine Lapetina, president of the Gravesend/Bensonhurst Quality of Life Committee, have urged the city to take action. “The developers are ruining quality of life of all Brooklyn, not just Bensonhurst,” Ms. Lapetina said in a recent telephone interview. “They’re destroying the history, character and beauty of Brooklyn.” Ms. Lapetina and her allies received a partial reprieve when the city rezoned about 120 blocks on the eastern edge of Bensonhurst. The new regulations are intended to prevent overdevelopment. But developers rushed to get foundations in the ground before the zoning change took effect last summer, and as a result, there are still several large-scale projects in the works. The frames of buildings-to-be dot almost every corner of the neighborhood, it seems, and the signs affixed to them assure passers-by that there are still plenty of luxury condos to come. Jacob Fein, a spokesman for BHC Construction, which is developing the 24-unit condo complex on West Sixth Street, Mr. Buzzetta’s block, said the project will provide a more affordable form of homeownership than the single-family house. The affordability argument carries weight in a neighborhood where housing prices have exploded in recent years. The median price of a one- to three-family house in Bensonhurst has more than doubled since 2000, according to the Brooklyn Board of Realtors, reaching $668,000 in the first six months of 2006. The jump has provided an incentive for long-time residents to sell their houses, fueling a broad ethnic shift that has changed the face of the neighborhood over the last 20 years. Once an Italian and Jewish stronghold, Bensonhurst has evolved into a lively polyglot community of Chinese, Russian, Italian, Mexican and Middle Eastern immigrants. At the time of the 2000 census, the neighborhood was 51 percent foreign-born, according to an analysis by the city’s Planning Department. Howard Feuer, district manager of Brooklyn Community Board 11, a neighborhood panel that advises city government, says the change is evident everywhere. “Take this block the office is on,” he said. “We have a Russian pharmacist and a Russian shoemaker. He just closed down, but we had a Mexican bodega. We also have a Pakistani who owns a small market. An Italian owns the dry cleaners and the Laundromat. And ablock from here, we have a mosque.”

What You’ll Find: Bensonhurst is surrounded by Dyker Heights to the west, Borough Park to the north, Gravesend to the east and Bath Beach to the south. Some consider Bath Beach a part of the neighborhood, extending its border to Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood’s main arteries — Bay Parkway, 86th Street and 18th Avenue (Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard), among others — are an eclectic jumble of doctors’ offices, apartment buildings, chain restaurants and small businesses of every ethnic stripe. On 18th Avenue, near the corner of 70th Street, teenagers limber up at TNT Sung’s tae kwon do studio, while an older crowd gabs in Italian at the Caffe Italia. Just down the road, diners nibble on eel salad at Passage Palace, a Russian-inspired restaurant that resembles a small fortress. The side streets are a mixture of early-20th-century single- and two-family houses, cast in brick, stucco and stone, often with aluminum siding on the upper floors. Wrought iron fences front small yards. Many residents tend gardens out back. Some houses are attached. Many are semi-detached. Larger fully-detached houses are more prevalent on the southern edge of the neighborhood (near the water), and to the west, where Bensonhurst merges into the more upscale Dyker Heights. Condominiums have sprung up all over Bensonhurst in recent years. But with the new zoning regulations in place and a sizable inventory, developers and real estate agents say they do not expect many new projects in the immediate future.

What You’ll Pay: Joseph DeVito, associate broker with Fillmore Real Estate, said two-bedroom condos sell for $450,000 to $500,000. But with inventory high, he expects sales prices to level off or dip in the coming months. Sale prices on single-family houses in the Bensonhurst area ranged from $358,900 to $750,000 in the first seven months of the year, with most bunched in the middle, according to data from the Bay Ridge-Bensonhurst Multiple Listing Service. Two-, three- and four-family houses sold for more than $800,000 in many cases, and a few commanded more than $900,000. Larry Cricchio, sales manager at Century 21 Calabrese, said buyers can expect to pay more as they inch closer to Dyker Heights. But the market as a whole, he said, seems to be cooling.

What to Do: While Italians do not dominate Bensonhurst as they once did, they are still a strong cultural and culinary presence. Il Colosseo, a restaurant on 18th Avenue near the corner of 77th Street, is known for its brick oven pizza. Villa Paradiso on Bath Avenue is also a neighborhood favorite. Bensonhurst celebrates two major feasts a year: the Feast of Padre Pio in June and the Feast of Santa Rosalia in late August and early September. Residents of all ethnicities and ages congregate at Seth Low Park, which offers playgrounds and paddle ball courts, among other things.

The Schools: The neighborhood’s network of 13 public elementary schools has a solid reputation and test scores have been rising over the last few years. At Bensonhurst School, 72 percent of tested students met the state’s English language arts standards last year, compared with 61 percent of students citywide. In the 2002-2003 academic year, just 47 percent of students met the standards, compared with 49 percent citywide. Christa McAuliffe Intermediate School, which serves gifted students, consistently scores well above city averages. Students at Joseph B. Cavallaro Intermediate School have also bested city scores. Edward B. Shallow Intermediate School hovers around the average. Scores on the SAT reasoning tests at the neighborhood’s three main high schools — Franklin D. Roosevelt, New Utrecht and Lafayette — were below statewide averages. At Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, average scores were 396 for verbal and 507 for math in the 2004-2005 school year. State averages were 497 on the verbal and 511 on the math last year. Bensonhurst also supports an extensive network of private Jewish and Catholic schools, including St. Finbar’s, a prekindergarten through eighth grade academy in Bath Beach. St. Finbar’s was one of 26 schools in Brooklyn and Queens that the Diocese of Brooklyn planned to close last year. . But the academy was able to remain open after convincing diocesan officials that it could remain financially viable.

The Commute: Three subway lines run through Bensonhurst. The D and M lines make a diagonal cut through the center of the neighborhood, and the N line hugs the northern edge of Bensonhurst before turning south into Gravesend. The quickest trips to Manhattan are on the D and N lines, which run express along Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The ride from the Bay Parkway stop on the N line to Canal Street in Manhattan takes 33 minutes, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority. A trip from the 18th Avenue stop on the D line to the Grand Street stop in Manhattan takes 34 minutes. Several bus lines serve Bensonhurst, connecting the neighborhood to Dyker Heights, Borough Park, Gravesend and beyond.\ The Belt Parkway runs along the southern edge of the neighborhood and connects to the Gowanus Expressway — often traffic-choked — which provides access to New Jersey, Manhattan and Westchester.

The History: Once farmland, the neighborhood began to take shape in the late 1880’s when a developer, James Lynch, bought property from the Benson family and erected the 350-acre suburb of Bensonhurst by the Sea, according to the Encyclopedia of New York City. Brooklyn annexed the town in 1894. The arrival of the Fourth Avenue subway in 1915 led to a population boom, attracting thousands of Jews and Italians, who filled rows of brick houses and apartment buildings. “Saturday Night Fever,” starring John Travolta, was set in Bensonhurst, solidifying the neighborhood’s reputation as a center of the Italian-American experience. (Lenny’s Pizza, featured in the film, is still there.) But the composition of the neighborhood began to shift in the 1980’s, with a surge in Asian, Russian and Middle Eastern immigration. Racial tensions flared in August 1989, when a group of white teenagers murdered Yusef Hawkins, a black teenager visiting the neighborhood with three black friends to look at a used car. After extensive reports of harassment of Asian students at Lafayette High School, the city’s Department of Education signed a consent decree with the Justice Department in 2004, agreeing to improve services for non-English speakers and institute tolerance training.

What We Like: Bensonhurst buzzes with an infectious immigrant energy that reminds the native-born New Yorker of the promise of the city. And there is a sense of community absent in many other neighborhoods.

Going Forward: Parking has become a problem in recent years, and neighborhood leaders have asked the city to impose stiffer parking space requirements on developers. Bensonhurst could also use a movie theater.

The Real Deal

December 2006

"Blue-Collar Buyers Mean Big Business In Outer Boroughs" Firms, developers, government are looking to meet the demand for affordable housing

By GABBY WARSHAWER

Amid the headlines of $1 million apartments as an everyday price, it's hard to understand how middle-income New Yorkers can afford to own property in the city. After five-and-a-half years on the job, a New York police officer earns a base salary of $59,588. A public school teacher earns $46,800 after working the same number of years. The city's median household income was $43,434 in a city rife with millionaires, according to 2005 census data. The median apartment sales price in Manhattan in the third quarter of 2006 was around $845,000, according to data from appraisal firm Miller Samuel. In Brooklyn, the median sales price for one- and two-family dwellings was $540,000 for the first six months of 2006, and the median sales price for an apartment was $439,000, according to the REBNY Brooklyn Residential Sales Report released in September. But the city's middle-income buyers are big business for many real estate firms and developers, almost exclusively in the outer boroughs. At the same time, a number of Bloomberg administration housing initiatives seek to address the chasm between the city's median income levels and affordability. The New Housing Marketplace Plan is the most prominent of these measures, and it strives to encourage builders to create more than 165,000 units of housing for low-, moderate- and middle-income New Yorkers over the next decade. At Brooklyn's Fillmore Real Estate, the borough's largest real estate firm by number of agents, the majority of its clients are blue-collar, middle-income buyers. Blue-collar buyers are the highlight of our market," said John Reinhardt, Fillmore's president and CEO. "We're happy to aid in the sales of affordable houses to buyers who are looking in neighborhoods like Canarsie and Bensonhurst." Reinhardt said the average sales price for a single-family house is $450,000 in Canarsie and $500,000 in Bensonhurst, prices that many middle-income earners can afford. One project Fillmore worked on that targeted middle-income buyers was Canarsie's Seaview Estates. Between 2003 and 2005, Fillmore sold around 275 apartments at the condominium complex at East 108th Street and Seaview Avenue. The rental property had fallen into disrepair; its owners renovated the grounds and units and started selling apartments in 2003. Sonia Meggs, a retiree who spent most of her career working for an insurance agency, purchased her two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in 2003 for $187,000. "When I decided to buy, I knew I couldn't afford it on a retiree's salary," said Meggs, who started teaching at a nearby school to meet her new mortgage payments. "I also cashed out 20 percent of my 401K, and now with common charges and mortgage payments I'm paying $958 a month." That's a significant reduction from the $1,200 a month Meggs paid to rent the same apartment. She said that she "loves" owning and living in the rehabilitated Seaview Estates. Jean Paul Ho, the Fillmore vice president who led the sales effort at Seaview Estates, said that most of the people he works with are "buying out of necessity." "A lot of the people we work with can't afford to buy in downtown Brooklyn, because prices there have gotten too high," said Ho. "One worry is that all of Brooklyn is going to become too expensive for the average buyer." Fillmore is also the exclusive sales agent for Fairfield Towers, a 19-building complex with almost 1,000 apartments in East New York purchased in September by Taconic Investment Partners and Apollo Real Estate Advisors (see Houses rise in hardscrabble East New York). Ho will once again take the lead for Fillmore on this project, which will involve an overhaul of the apartments and grounds at Fairfield Towers before the towers' units hit the market. "What's happening in East New York is very, very exciting," he said. "I'm very proud to be part of this project, and as a Brooklynite I'm proud of how neighborhoods are turning around." City agencies will offer a substantial amount of financial support for the condominium project at Fairfield Towers. Subsidies from the Housing Partnership Development Corp. bring most unit prices below $300,000. Middle-income buyers are finding city support at Fairfield and with other housing developments. In October, the Port Authority sold a 24-acre lot in Long Island City to the city, which plans to build around 5,000 units of affordable housing on the site through its New Housing Marketplace Plan. In September, the New York City Housing Development Corporation approved over $135 million in construction and financing for buildings in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.

Real Estate Weekly

October 19, 2005

Boomers and Minorities Flex Their Market Muscles

By Tiffany Razzano

At the RIS Media 16th Annual Real Estate Leadership Conference, industry experts pinpointed five demographic trends that will have a major effect on the residential real estate industry in coming years. Facilitated by John Heithaus, managing partner at Certified Closing Network, the panelists cited Baby Boomers, immigrants, senior citizens, Echo Boomers and international buyers as major demographic groups that, over the past few years, have been putting more money into the market--a sign that they deserve more specific attention. According to Heithaus, Baby Boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964, make up "the greatest economic force in the history of the United States. "It's a very diverse group," Heithaus said. "There are often misconceptions about them all being pot smoking hippies." As the oldest of the Echo Boomers--that is, children of the Baby Boomers and those born between 1982 and 1995--start to move into adulthood, they are also suddenly becoming a strong buying and renting force. There are 80 million Echo Boomers in the United States, roughly one third of the population, who currently invest $170 billion in real estate each year. Senior citizens, who currently make up 20% of the country's population, have a lot of real estate wealth to disperse into the market, too. As they get older, most of them look to relocate, usually locally, which brings in a lot of local business for realtors. For this demographic, "an emotional connection [between the broker and the buyer] is critical," said Rob. Adams, president of Moving Station, LLC. "You need to take a hands-on approach. Trust drives the relationship." The United States is the top country for expatriate moves. International buyers formerly spent the majority of their money renting, but have become a buying population that "want[s] a piece of the U.S. real estate dream," Heithaus said. But perhaps the largest of all these groups is the immigrant buyers. The minority population in the United States grows each year and will continue to grow. It is projected that, by 2050, the Asian and Hispanic populations will have tripled. By 2009, the consumer buying power of minorities will triple as well. African-Americans will see a 203% increase, while Asians and Hispanics will see an even bigger increase of 347%. This is a large market group that needs to be very carefully evaluated and dealt with in culturally specific ways. "Studying the market and understanding it is really critical," said Oscar Gonzalez, president of the Gonzalez Group. "It's not just a one dimensional approach; it's multidimensional. It's about what's culturally correct. Realtors don't exist in South and Central America and Asia, so you have to be very basic and fundamental." Gonzalez added, "A multicultural initiative must become an integral part of your business and strategic plan as your client profile changes." There are several barriers to overcome when selling to minority groups. One major barrier is the consumer's lack of knowledge of the real estate industry. First American Corporation has dealt with this in a creative way by putting up a webpage written entirely in Spanish on the MSN Latino website. The page, which receives 150,000 hits a month, educates Hispanic viewers about buying a home and can connect the user to a certified NAHREP broker through a link on the page. John Reinhardt, president of Fillmore Real Estate and panelist at the seminar, said the three ways to approach the immigrant and minority market is to "understand ... communicate effectively ... and to educate consumers." "It's difficult to understand someone from around the world, but understanding the immigrant market is important," Reinhardt said. "You can get the info online and can market down to the zipcode. The tools are available." He went on to say that "communication is the most important." Fillmore has established several initiatives in order to communicate more effectively with minority and immigrant homebuyers. The company's brokers and agents can speak an aggregate of 37 languages. They advertise in various ethnic publications and hold home buying seminars in several different languages. With these diverse and major trends developing, the panelists agreed that businesses are being presented with a major opportunity--if they do their homework. "Diversity leads to core business," said John Yen Wong, president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America. "It's no longer emerging; it's emerged."

COPYRIGHT 2005 Hagedorn Publication COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

The Real Deal

08/2006

"Buyers Bite The (Red) Hook In Brooklyn" With a $1M home sale grabbing headlines,< br />the waterfront area sparks more buzz

By MARC FERRIS

Home to artists and funky professionals, the Brooklyn enclave of Red Hook remained an out-of-the-way industrial backwater as nearby neighborhoods like Park Slope and Carroll Gardens filled up with families and well-heeled denizens. Despite its isolation from the subway network, Red Hook is a secret no more, particularly since real estate prices in this isolated corner of Brooklyn hit an unprecedented benchmark: $1.06 million for a two-family home on the aptly named Pioneer Street. "It's a psychological landmark for a lot of people and it has ignited a fire," said Nicole Galluccio, a broker at Fillmore Real Estate in Boerum Hill, who in June helped sell what has become known as "the house" at 105 Pioneer Street. Like any market, she added, "Red Hook ebbs and flows with spurts and spikes that eventually level out, but this year, there's been a lot of hubbub." Located at the mouth of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, Red Hook is walled off from the rest of the borough by the elevated Gowanus Expressway. Buses are few and subways are far, though a few lines are within (lengthy) walking distance. For car owners, the locale is ideal -- tolls and tight parking excluded. Part of the area's charm is its isolation. "My typical buyer is a younger couple in their mid-30s from a trendy, overcrowded and overpriced area in Manhattan," said Galluccio. "They can smell the water and hear the seagulls. The lack of transportation created the development of a unique, sleepy waterfront town that promotes the arts." That sense of serenity is threatened and the neighborhood is now likely to evoke comparisons to Williamsburg at the twilight of its hipness. A Fairway supermarket opened in May, after some local opposition. Cruise ships debark at Pier 12. Ikea is clearing land on the waterfront to build a store, expected to open in 2008. Battle lines are drawn between proponents of reviving port traffic, which began to wither in the 1950s, and supporters of residential development. Some locals applauded the recent ruling by a judge, who required developer Bruce Batkin to reapply for a zoning variance to convert a former warehouse at 160 Imlay Street into upscale housing. Others revel in the inevitable, supporting gourmet bakeries, art happenings, trendy restaurants on Van Brunt Street and nightlife that throbs in large industrial spaces. The city's Economic Development Corporation's recently issued a request for expression of interest calling for a mixed-use plan for developing the Atlantic Basin terminal from piers 7 to 12, which promises to pit neighbor against neighbor, said Gino Vitale, an active builder who lives in the neighborhood. "You have some of the best waterfront property in the city and it makes no sense to put a big box store there," he said. "The cruise lines, the Ikea and the other stuff is not good for Red Hook. It's a real neighborhood where everyone knows everyone." Deliveries to local stores like Ikea will change that. Tractor trailer trucks already rumble down the narrow cobblestone streets, shaking buildings and ripping off the side mirrors of cars, forcing residents to choose between parking on the street and hoping the car remains whole or putting their cars on the sidewalk and risking a ticket. The new stores will only add to that traffic. "Families make communities, not 18-wheelers," said Vitale. Vitale, one of about three or four active local developers, is working on a 22-unit condominium on Coffey Street and a nine-unit condominium at Dikeman and Dwight streets. He is also building six Florentine-style carriage houses on Luquer Street, along with four others at Conover and Dikeman streets, which are intended as artist studios or space for small professional businesses. Though prices continue to climb (condos go for around $500,000, townhouses about $600,000), the million-dollar house is unlike most other residences, since the brick structure has been immaculately restored, said Marsha Yarde, associate broker at Fillmore Real Estate, who helped sell "the house." Almost all of the old-stock housing requires work. "It's an old neighborhood by the water, so there's termites, rotted wood, nothing but headaches, unless you know what you're doing," said Vitale. Even while the neighborhood began to gentrify in the late 1980s, remainders of its past included Civil War-era homes and the massive Red Hook Housing Project, built in 1936 for local dockworkers. The area, a bustling port that developed as Brooklyn's second rowhouse district after Brooklyn Heights, mixed shipping magnates and longshoremen. Al Capone hustled these streets. Always known as a tough place, the negative stigma became seared into public consciousness in 1993, when beloved school principal Patrick Daly died after getting caught in the crossfire between battling thugs near the housing project. Still, artists and bohemians continued to move in. Hubert Selby's bleak 1964 novel "Last Exit to Brooklyn" was set in its rough and gritty environs. "That perception of crime and violence is mostly gone," said Yarde. "It's like Soho 30 years ago or the Meatpacking district 10 years ago." Most of Vitale's buyers and tenants come from either Chelsea or California, he claims. "Red Hook is famous in certain parts of California," he said. "Anything I build, I can rent, so if the bubble bursts, the rentals will make the money. People who can't afford to buy condos will pay the rent just to be in the neighborhood." Near the fringes of upscale precincts like Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill, which are bleeding over traditional borders, the artist colony will undoubtedly gentrify, he said. Spurred by the sale of the million-dollar townhouse, Galluccio agrees, and plans to stay in Red Hook for a long time. "Talk to me 10 years from now," she said. "I'm buying anything I can get my hands on."

Real Estate Weekly

June 15, 2005

Keeping ethics at the forefront of our business

By Esther Muller

When John Reinhardt, the president and chief executive officer of Fillmore Real Estate, New York's largest privately owned and operated real estate company, recently launched an ethics program for his company's 500 agents, one [agent] was more than a reluctant participant. "He said he had no intention of following the new guidelines," remembers Reinhardt. The agent was fired. "That was a good loss," he says. "I want Fillmore to be ethical and fair not only among ourselves but to the industry and to the people whom we serve. I have zero tolerance for brokers who don't abide by our ethical standards." I couldn't agree more. Ethics, as defined by the American Heritage College Dictionary, is "a set of principles of right conduct." And I am happy to note that the real estate industry, thanks to many of our fellow colleagues, broker-owners and trade associations, has always made ethics an integral part of its agenda. As Eileen Spinola, senior vice president, The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), notes, "Ethics and business are not mutually exclusive." An agent with an ethical reputation is rewarded in intangible and tangible ways. Brokers want to work with an individual who is known for his integrity. And that follows through with clients, who want to place their homes--their most valuable asset and the most emotional one--in the hands of someone they trust. And with that trust comes referrals. Added together, that agent will win both financially and personally. I call that ROI--Return on Integrity. A veteran broker recently told me a story about how he had six people bidding on an apartment: three direct bids and three co-brokered. If he had gone with the first group, his commission would have been significantly higher. And no one would have been the wiser. But he knew he had the fiduciary responsibility of providing his client, the seller, with the most qualified buyer. In the end, he presented both the direct and co-brokered bids to the seller who made the final decision. "I was really tempted to go with the direct bids," he remembers, "but in the end, presenting the full picture to my client was the right thing to do." As this broker's tale demonstrates, being ethical can be hard (especially where money is concerned!). And it's not always so clear-cut. Many agents have faced situations where the right resolution isn't clear. Ignorance or a plain lapse in judgment is something that all of us, as imperfect beings, have fallen to. That's why it is always important to seek guidance when an ethical dilemma arises. There are many resources. Many continuing education programs offer classes on ethics. You can always refer to REBNY's Code of Ethics and Professional Practices. Or you can ask your manager. But what happens when an ethics lapse occurs? REBNY's Ethics Committee has a methodical process in place when a member is reported to be in violation of its ethics regulations. Often, the person who makes the charge and the subject of the complaint are personally questioned by the committee, an independent group of real estate professionals elected by REBNY members. They carefully review the situation and determine if a lapse has occurred. If one has, it is addressed in an appropriate manner. "We know mistakes happen," says Spinola. "But there is always an opportunity for redemption." As an industry, we've had our public ups and downs but the real estate market is primarily populated with professionals who embrace and practice ethics in every aspect of their business lives. And for the few who don't, their time is limited. Just ask John Reinhardt.

ESTHER MULLER, PRESIDENT, ESTHER MULLER CONSULTANTS COPYRIGHT 2005 Hagedorn Publication COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

REALTOR® Magazine Online

September 19, 2006

"Small Businesses to Expand Despite Concerns "

Source: Associated Press, Joyce M. Rosenberg (09/18/06)

A survey of small-business owners by the National Federation of Independent Business found owners were less optimistic about their business than they were last month. The federation's small-business optimism index fell 2.2 points to 95.9, its lowest reading since March 2003. But two components of the index — the number of job openings and owners' plans to create new jobs — rose this month, indicating that even as small-business optimism has ebbed, many owners are considering expanding. John Reinhardt, owner of Fillmore Real Estate in Brooklyn, N.Y., says the slide in real estate prices has been good for business because it makes buying a home more affordable. “The numbers are doing real well. If I took my average monthly production, it’s up 20 percent the last month and a half or two months,” says Reinhardt. Other owners are in businesses that stand to benefit from hard times. Lew Freeman is a forensic accountant who specializes in helping lenders who are worried about borrowers who look like they’re heading for default. Business is up right now, he says.

Small Biz Owners Still Upbeat
09/06 - JOYCE M. ROSENBERG, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- If you believe the surveys, small business owners are growing less optimistic as they see the economy slowing. Look closer and you might find that owners can be pretty upbeat - provided their businesses are well-positioned to weather a downturn.

Even though the housing market has slowed, John Reinhardt is very positive about his real estate company, based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

Even though the housing market has slowed, John Reinhardt is very positive about his real estate company, based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

"I'm really excited. I wasn't a few months ago, but the numbers are doing real well - if I took my average monthly production, it's up 20 percent the last month and a half or two months," said Reinhardt, owner of Fillmore Real Estate.

Reinhardt said the slide in home prices has made buying a house more affordable for many first-time home buyers, including blue collar workers who are now being priced out of the rental market. "Many of them are saying, 'maybe it makes sense to buy,'" he said.

Reinhardt put his company in place to benefit from this shift by diversifying away from a focus on more upscale housing.

A survey of small company owners by the National Federation of Independent Business found that overall, they were less optimistic last month; the NFIB's small business optimism index fell 2.2 points to 95.9, the lowest reading for the index since March of 2003. The survey found the more businesses are borrowing - a possible indication that cash flows are slowing along with the economy.

But two components of the index - the number of job openings and owners' plans to create new jobs - rose last month. That indicates that even as small business optimism has ebbed, many owners are comfortable enough to think about expanding.

Some business owners are upbeat because they're in industries that stand to benefit from a downturn.

Lew Freeman, whose Miami-based businesses include forensic accounting and real estate consulting concerns, specializes in helping lenders who are worried about borrowers who look like they're heading for default. Business is up right now - "bad is good," Freeman said - because lenders are seeing more signs of trouble as the economy slows and they don't want to wait for an actual default to occur.

Freeman's company looks over a borrower's books and determines whether it's likely to default. After the real estate and mortgage boom of the last few years, "I think we're going to see a lot of setbacks," Freeman said.

That will keep his revenue increasing, but Freeman also noted that he's not immune from the challenges that other small business owners are contending with. He's also had to deal with rising expenses, including higher energy prices and the rising cost of property and casualty insurance, as Florida is a hurricane zone.

Other business owners had the foresight to make their companies less vulnerable during a downturn.

Jon Bailey, co-owner of Bailey Gardiner, a San Diego-based marketing firm, described himself as cautiously optimistic about his company because it diversified away from a heavy dependence on clients in the real estate industry.

"We are continuing to grow when I see competitors failing, and I think that that has to do with smart business planning and a lot of crystal balling about the future," he said. "We looked at indicators, attended seminars about the future of the industry and realized it wasn't going to remain at that breakneck speed."

More of Bailey Gardiner's clients are now in industries such as tourism and hospitality. Bailey said the company has had a slight increase in revenue and profits this year, and said "that has been a very happy experience."

Memories of the dot-com bubble and bust contributed to Bailey Gardiner's change in strategy.

"We had layoffs, salary cuts - we didn't want to go through that pain again." Bailey said.

Jennefer Witter, owner of the New York-based marketing firm The Boreland Group, said that while her company is steadily growing - "I've already started to get nibbles from people who are doing their business planning for 2007" - she's also preparing for a possible slowdown.

Witter, whose market is businesses that are too small for the big public relations firms, said she hired a business consultant to help her plan her strategy if she starts to lose clients. She's creating a contingency plan rather than waiting to deal with problems when they arise.

"I've plotted out what I will be working on this quarter in order to start 2007 on the strongest footing possible," she said.

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The New York Post

December 21, 2006

"Brooklyn Style" These Low-Key, Old-School Areas Offer Fab Deals On New Homes

By ADAM BONISLAWSKI

December 21, 2006 -- IF you were to welcome back Kotter to Brooklyn these days, he probably wouldn’t even recognize the borough. With the trendy restaurants, slick boutiques and high-end high-rises popping up on every other corner, it’s easy to wonder what's happened to the borough's once famous working-class cred. Around-the-clock concierges? FreshDirect? Happy-hour play dates? Heath Ledger? Just what's become of this borough, anyway? Well, that depends on where you're looking. Sure, Park Slope's Seventh Avenue is about as Upper West Side as 72nd Street, and hipster wits have been calling Williamsburg's main drag Avenue E for more than a decade now. But head a bit deeper into the borough - to spots like Gravesend, Bensonhurst and Mill Basin - and you'll still find the sort of modest, low-key enclaves that Brooklyn has long been known for. They're the places that Fillmore Real Estate President and CEO John Reinhardt calls "blue-collar Brooklyn" - still-affordable areas far enough out of Manhattan's orbit to have escaped much of the hype and frenzy of the recent real estate run-up. While condos in hot spots like DUMBO can cost upward of $1,000 per square foot, property in these neighborhoods still runs in the $400 range. "These are areas that people might not have considered before. But they're saying, 'You know what, I can buy the American Dream in Bensonhurst, and it'll cost me less than it does to rent in Park Slope,'" Reinhardt says. "They might be a couple more subway stops away, but it's something they own.". And while these outer-Brooklyn neighborhoods haven't gotten as much attention as their nearer-to-Manhattan brethren, they've seen their share of new developments all the same. "You have a lot of condos being built in these areas," Reinhardt says. "People might not be able to afford the $750,000 house, so they opt for the $450,000 condo, instead." Quentin Terrace, a new 32-unit Bensonhurst building from developer Ben Bobker, offers two-bedroom units starting at $330,000. Three-bedrooms top out at around $550,000. In nearby Gravesend, Bobker's 42-unit Village Terrace building features two-bedrooms starting in the $370,000s and three-bedrooms for up to $650,000. "There's just as big a demand for housing in these areas," Bobker says. "People who live in these neighborhoods want to stay in those neighborhoods for the schools and synagogues and stores." And while the condo market in outer Brooklyn has been affected by the wider real-estate slowdown, recent down-zoning in neighborhoods like Bensonhurst should restrict future development and tighten the available condo supply. "For the time being, these areas are slightly overbuilt," says Nicholas Stroffolino of Stroffolino Real Estate. "But unless something changes, once everything has sold out, it's back to the supply side." Stroffolino represents a new building going up at 6422 Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst. The eight-unit development is slated to go on sale in early spring, with two-bedrooms starting at $299,000 and three-bedrooms at $599,000. Nearby, another 19-unit building - The Bay Plaza Condo - is rising at 7620 Bay Parkway, and just up the block at the intersection of 76th Street and Bay Parkway, the seller of a vacant lot is apparently trying to get in on the condominium trend as well. "A great location for luxury condo development," reads the "for sale" sign. It's not all about high-rises, though. Aside from affordability, the most obvious advantage such outer-Brooklyn 'hoods offer is space. Though still quite dense compared to most of the country, put up against a place like Manhattan, these areas can feel downright roomy. That allows for a different sort of development - call it a slice of suburban life in the city. Or, in the words of retired policeman Louis Savelli, "It's like a Long Island neighborhood in Brooklyn." That's how Savelli characterizes Bay Front Estates, the 34-home Mill Basin development where he recently purchased a new four-bedroom house. With the community's four- and five-bedroom homes ranging from 4,313 to 4,724 square feet, there's the sort of space on offer here that your average New Yorkers can only dream of. With prices starting at $1.35 million and going up to $2 million, these homes aren't exactly cheap. But they're still only around $300 to $400 per square foot, and each pad comes with its own boat slip as a bonus. Just north of the Bay Front complex, developer Stephen S. Jemal has even bigger plans for Mill Basin. A founder of The Wiz electronics chain, Jemal has since set out on a new career as a real-estate mogul, slowly buying up bits of South Brooklyn over the last seven years. Focusing on waterfront development, Jemal has branded his line of buildings The Riviera. His Riviera Estates at Mill Basin, which is slated to start construction before the end of the year, consists of 10 single-family homes ranging from 2,800 to 3,600 square feet and starting at around $1.9 million. Also planned for Mill Basin - on the western edge of the area - are 268 one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from $399,000 to just over $1 million. Jemal also has plans to build 68 one-, two- and three-bedroom units starting at $349,000 in Gerritsen Beach; 18 $599,000-and-up loft-style condos in Sheepshead Bay; and roughly 80 townhomes adjacent to Dreier-Offerman Park in Bensonhurst. In nearby Bergen Beach, meanwhile, developer Sean Lavin is bringing a suburban-style gated condo development to the borough. The 208-unit development, Mill Harbor Waterview Residences, offers two- and three-bedrooms ranging from about $400,000 to $700,000. Built in a sprawling (by New York standards, at any rate) garden style, with a community clubhouse and pool, the apartments are targeted at buyers looking for a bit more of the outdoors than big-city real estate typically offers. "Not everyone wants to live in a 12-story building with views of Manhattan," Lavin says. "Some people like the idea of living in an open space where you have more green space, where it's more of a walkable community." "You get the closeness and ambience of Manhattan, but still have that suburban feel, that tranquility," says Patrick Falleta, a funeral director who recently bought a three-bedroom in the complex. And, as he and Savelli both note, the tax abatements offered to Brooklyn buyers allow them to purchase suburban-style homes with property taxes that are a fraction of what they'd have to pay in parts of New Jersey or Long Island. Consider it just one more jewel in Kings County's crown.

The Real Deal

November 2006

"What Do You Do When Sales Are Slower?" Industry vets tell new brokers to be patient, study the inventory and to not fear negotiations

By CATHY HOBBS

Staging is worth the cost: It was a gorgeous May morning this spring when Serniqua Dougherty, an agent with the boutique residential firm Manhattan Home Delivery, sat with other graduating students of the Fashion Institute of Technology inside Radio City Music Hall. The right of passage marked not only earning her undergraduate degree after years of dedication and hard work but her transition into New York City real estate. "I quickly realized my jumpstart would be made through marketing, marketing, and more marketing. Basically cold calling, cold mailings, opening up the Yellow Pages and looking up addresses for people in areas in which I wanted to work and calling them. I believe, if you get someone to read your material and not throw it out as junk mail, that's your opportunity," says Dougherty, who obtained her real estate license last year. For freshly minted salespeople like Dougherty, the real estate environment in New York has never been more competitive. As of last month, according to the Department of State Division of Licensing, there were 41,575 licensed salespeople throughout the five boroughs, up from 24,727 five years ago. Meanwhile, there were 24,209 licensed real estate brokers, an increase from the same period five years ago, when there were 19,393 in the city. And while there is a difference of opinion over the state of the market, here are some tips from agents who have survived both the bulls and the bears.

Realize sales take time: An increase in the amount of inventory on the market today has created a challenge for sellers, says Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman. Herman suggests that agents be selective about taking listings. "A lot of them take on properties that are at the high end of the market and I would have a heart-to-heart with the seller about what their expectations are," she says. Herman believes, in the current market, a seller needs to be willing to allow six months for his property to sell and encourages brokers to "not even touch" a three-month listing. "In today's market, most properties are selling [after] an average of four and a half months," says Herman. "People are taking longer to make a decision today, even if your property is priced right." Selling seems to be just as slow for new condo developments, which have hit the market in large numbers: Highlyann Krasnow, executive vice president of the Developers Group, which specializes in marketing and selling new developments, has seen a shift in the last six months. "We really are having the same amount of people at open houses, but people are taking two or three appointments to make a sale," says Krasnow, who oversees some 70 agents. "I started in the business back in 2000," she added. "Before, the sales just came to you and you didn't have to do anything. Now, you have to really work for it."

Get ready to negotiate: In an environment where a seller obtaining full asking price isn't always guaranteed, there is the overall opinion that negotiation and even concessions on both sides is often necessary to seal a deal. "Now, it is more of a banter between two attorneys and it is a deal that is created out of mutual compromises," says Thomas Di Domenico, a senior vice president at the Corcoran Group who has been in the business since 1981. "It is important to have a broker and attorney who are at the top of their game." Krasnow of the Developers Group notes that for new condo projects, developers who two years ago had people lined up to buy apartments are now open to the concept of negotiation -- but not on all fronts. "Most developers are still not willing to negotiate the price, but some are willing to negotiate other terms such as transfer taxes and closing costs," she says.

Coddle your buyers: Brokers agree buyers today have far more options than they did a year or two ago. JoAnne Kennedy, COO of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, believes a broker's time is best spent only showing a potential buyer the cream of the crop properties. "You need to show the very best first," she says. "If you show the worst, then they will think as a buyer, 'oh, these properties keep getting better and better,' but if you show the cream of the crop first, then everything else pales in comparison and that prompts a quicker buying decision." Kennedy said in order for brokers to keep up-to-date as apartment inventory grows, they should see as many properties as possible. "I suggest that a broker should see at least 30 apartments a week so they really know the inventory," she says. Herman of Prudential Douglas Elliman advises brokers dealing with buyers to encourage them to "just make an offer." "With the seller, sometimes the first offer is the best one and they don't know it," she says. "And if the buyer doesn't like the counteroffer from the seller, the broker can have the buyer place a standing offer." Currently, building relationships even with those individuals who don't buy may also pay off in the future, says John Reinhardt, president of Fillmore Real Estate. "Before, the buyer who bought an apartment was given all the attention and the others were neglected," he says. "These days, every potential customer who walks in the door, you should develop a relationship."

Pick your shots: In life, it is often said you only have one chance to make a first impression and in real estate, brokers agree that means always showing a property at its best, beginning with its entrance into the market. Corcoran's Di Domenico said sellers are now realizing the cost of staging -- which involves having a professional come in to make an apartment more presentable, and which many brokers dismissed during the hot market when anything would sell -- is now worth the investment. "You have to bring the seller into the thinking that the property has to show like a showplace, and it has to show like that throughout all of the showing schedule," says Di Domenico. Helping a client out with other parts of the real estate transaction is also key for a broker, he says. "In today's market, the more services a broker can offer -- an experienced attorney, a home stager, a home interior designer, mortgage broker -- the better assurance you have the transaction will go smoothly," he says. Herman of Prudential Douglas Elliman said brokers should still invest significantly in marketing, even if there is less money to go around in a slower market. "I don't believe you should cut out marketing. It is probably even more important today than it was a year ago," she says. "A year ago, properties sold and marketing may not have made much of a difference. Now, I think, marketing is very important." Reinhardt of Fillmore agrees with Herman, but points out that not all marketing needs to cost a bundle. "The greatest way to market a property is to put it on the Internet. It's so affordable. People today are going from ink to links," he says.

Find niche markets: When Toby Klein, executive director of sales for Dumbo building owner and developer Two Trees Management, began selling real estate, it was the mid-'80s and interest rates were hovering around 18 percent. For Klein, her bread and butter wasn't earned on higher-end clients, but through deals with first-time buyers. "Twenty years ago, I worked a lot with first-time buyers, and I was comfortable helping them. I feel they needed the most help and it just happened to pay off for me because they have stayed with me and they grew and I grew." She believes that even in today's market, establishing a relationship with a first-time home buyer can pay off for decades and multiple sales to come. "Most brokers who are just following the commissions will spend very little time with that first-time home buyer if they are just looking to make that multi-million dollar sale. That's a mistake," she says. Reinhardt said another often-overlooked market involves the thousands of immigrants who settle in the city annually. "The immigrant market and the blue-collar market are two of the hottest markets right now," he said. "There are so many people who are moving to New York who still want the American dream." For newbie agent Serniqua Dougherty of Manhattan Home Delivery, her strategy so far has been to diversify by dealing in both sales and rentals. "Doing both allows me to be open to both," she says. "Rentals is something you can always do to get a check and keep money in your pocket because there is always that student who needs an apartment or that person who just relocated to the city."

Cathy Hobbs is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and interior designer.

BROOKLYN HITS NEW HIGHTS

 It's alive: Great views & affordable homes make Greenwood life of party

EVEN with a gigantic cemetery, Greenwood Heights is full of life.

"It's a charming locale with a real Brooklyn neighborhood feel," says Isabelle Reboh, senior vice president at Brown Harris Stevens.

It's also a more affordable alternative to nearby Park Slope. In Greenwood Heights, two- or three-story row houses start at around $550,000, and new condos can run about $500 a square foot.

The up-and-coming area gets its name from the 478-acre Greenwood Cemetery (there's an entrance at 25th Street and Fifth Avenue), which includes the highest point in Brooklyn. Just south of Park Slope, Greenwood Heights' boundaries are debatable, but the consensus is the area goes from 18th Street to 30th Street, between Fourth Avenue and Prospect Park West.

Taking claim for the Greenwood Heights name, Fillmore Real Estate vice president Sal Cappi says he coined the moniker back in 1988, when a new development of six townhouses was being built.

"We were trying to come up with a marketing edge for what was this no-man's-land. Something with pizzazz. It still took a couple of years for it to stick."

Many homes in Greenwood Heights are attached two- to three-story row houses.

"Many of these properties were originally built as homes for the dock workers and other working-class," says Corcoran senior associate Tim Stanard. "Therefore, they're not as ornate or grand as brownstones in Park Slope."

These homes are usually 16 feet to 20 feet wide and sit on 100-foot lots. Details can include hardwood floors, tin ceilings, fireplaces and moldings. While some of these homes start around $550,000, the nicer and better-located ones can run about $1 million.

"The closer you are to the Slope, the higher the price," says Brooklyn Properties broker Ilene Levenson. "And you pay less for a fixer-upper that still has vinyl siding than you would for something that's been redone and modernized."

Those looking to rent in Greenwood Heights can expect to pay $1,200 to $1,600 a month for a floor-through with 600 to 900 square feet.

There are a lot of older Italian and Polish families that have been in Greenwood Heights for many generations. Until recently, there hasn't been heavy turnover of homes.

"Many people joke and say that they and their families will stay in the neighborhood until they cross the street [to the cemetery]," says 50-year-old Gerard Lockwood, who was born and raised in the area and operates a 100-year-old funeral parlor.

Greenwood Heights also has a significant Latino population, with many Mexican and South American restaurants in the area.

"I love the fact that it's an ethnically diverse neighborhood," says 39-year-old children's book illustrator Sergio Ruzzier, who along with his 6-year-old daughter rents a floor-through for $1,300.

Jessica Fadem and her 8-year-old son have been living in an early 1900s two-family brick house in Greenwood Heights for a year and a half.

The neighborhood "has an old New York feel to it," says Fadem, a pilates instructor who's studying to be a homeopath. "Kids play in the street and people sit on their stoops. People look out for each other. During the last snowstorm, my neighbors shoveled for me."

Things, though, could be changing in the area.

"There is a yuppie contingency coming in," says Massey Knakal director of sales Lawrence Sarn.

Developers have discovered the area and are buying every property they can get their hands on. "There are new buildings everywhere," Ruzzier says. "I can see three from my window. This neighborhood doesn't have a distinct architectural identity, but still they all seem very out of place."

And more new apartments are on their way.

"There will be well over 300 new luxury condo and rental units within the next year," says graphic designer Aaron Brashear, who along with his wife, Mic Holwin, co-founded the Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights.

Legal secretary Monica Staben had never even heard of Greenwood Heights before she moved there six years ago.

"Back then I had no idea developers were going to completely invade the area," she says.

One of the numerous new developments is the Highpoint Condominiums at 19th Street and Seventh Avenue (see sidebar). The six-story elevator building will open in early summer.

Neighborhood lifer Lockwood, for one, likes the new faces: "It's nice to see all the young people and especially families in the restaurants and on the streets."

But the area still isn't Park Slope. "It doesn't have a lot of amenities," Cappi says. "And there is no bar hopping."

Brashear notes that Greenwood Heights is "not at the hipster stage yet, but I do eventually see that happening. I just hope we don't have total gentrification like Williamsburg."

ELEVATED LIVING

GREENWOOD Heights is home to the highest elevated point in Brooklyn. So why not call a new residential development the Highpoint Condos? Located at 560 Seventh Ave., the building features 10 two-bedroom, 1,132-square-foot units ranging from $560,625 to $635,500 and a single one-bedroom, 770-square-foot unit for $398,750. The building also features six parking spaces selling for $20,000 each.

The views of the harbor and the Manhattan skyline are a big perk of living in this neighborhood, so every two-bedroom unit here features its own private balcony. The building also has a common roof deck.

More info: (718) 857-2525 or www.brooklynproperties.com

Two-family: $775,000

One-bedroom over three-bedroom with eat-in kitchens, finished basement and garden. Agent: Rocco Ferraro, Park Terrace Properties, (718) 369-1700 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (718) 369-1700      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Three-family: $899,000

Three-bedroom over three-bedroom over two-bedrooms with basement. Agent: Antoinette La-Hage, Park Terrace Properties, (718) 369-1700 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (718) 369-1700      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Two-family: $719,000

Three-floor townhouse, 1,652 square feet with marble mantles, wood floors and pool. Agent: Robert Krieger, the Corcoran Group, (718) 832-4152 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (718) 832-4152      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

What do you do when sales are slower?
Industry vets tell new brokers to be patient, study the inventory and to not fear negotiations
The Real Deal - November 2006
Cathy Hobbs

Thomas Di Domenico of Corcoran says staging is worth the cost.

It was a gorgeous May morning this spring when Serniqua Dougherty, an agent with the boutique residential firm Manhattan Home Delivery, sat with other graduating students of the Fashion Institute of Technology inside Radio City Music Hall. The right of passage marked not only earning her undergraduate degree after years of dedication and hard work but her transition into New York City real estate.

"I quickly realized my jumpstart would be made through marketing, marketing, and more marketing. Basically cold calling, cold mailings, opening up the Yellow Pages and looking up addresses for people in areas in which I wanted to work and calling them. I believe, if you get someone to read your material and not throw it out as junk mail, that's your opportunity," says Dougherty, who obtained her real estate license last year.

For freshly minted salespeople like Dougherty, the real estate environment in New York has never been more competitive. As of last month, according to the Department of State Division of Licensing, there were 41,575 licensed salespeople throughout the five boroughs, up from 24,727 five years ago.

Meanwhile, there were 24,209 licensed real estate brokers, an increase from the same period five years ago, when there were 19,393 in the city. And while there is a difference of opinion over the state of the market, here are some tips from agents who have survived both the bulls and the bears.

Realize sales take time

An increase in the amount of inventory on the market today has created a challenge for sellers, says Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Herman suggests that agents be selective about taking listings. "A lot of them take on properties that are at the high end of the market and I would have a heart-to-heart with the seller about what their expectations are," she says.

Herman believes, in the current market, a seller needs to be willing to allow six months for his property to sell and encourages brokers to "not even touch" a three-month listing.

"In today's market, most properties are selling [after] an average of four and a half months," says Herman. "People are taking longer to make a decision today, even if your property is priced right."

Selling seems to be just as slow for new condo developments, which have hit the market in large numbers.

Highlyann Krasnow, executive vice president of the Developers Group, which specializes in marketing and selling new developments, has seen a shift in the last six months.

"We really are having the same amount of people at open houses, but people are taking two or three appointments to make a sale," says Krasnow, who oversees some 70 agents.

"I started in the business back in 2000," she added. "Before, the sales just came to you and you didn't have to do anything. Now, you have to really work for it."

Get ready to negotiate

In an environment where a seller obtaining full asking price isn't always guaranteed, there is the overall opinion that negotiation and even concessions on both sides is often necessary to seal a deal.

"Now, it is more of a banter between two attorneys and it is a deal that is created out of mutual compromises," says Thomas Di Domenico, a senior vice president at the Corcoran Group who has been in the business since 1981. "It is important to have a broker and attorney who are at the top of their game."

Krasnow of the Developers Group notes that for new condo projects, developers who two years ago had people lined up to buy apartments are now open to the concept of negotiation -- but not on all fronts.

"Most developers are still not willing to negotiate the price, but some are willing to negotiate other terms such as transfer taxes and closing costs," she says.

Coddle your buyers

Brokers agree buyers today have far more options than they did a year or two ago.

JoAnne Kennedy, COO of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, believes a broker's time is best spent only showing a potential buyer the cream of the crop properties.

"You need to show the very best first," she says. "If you show the worst, then they will think as a buyer, 'oh, these properties keep getting better and better,' but if you show the cream of the crop first, then everything else pales in comparison and that prompts a quicker buying decision."

Kennedy said in order for brokers to keep up-to-date as apartment inventory grows, they should see as many properties as possible. "I suggest that a broker should see at least 30 apartments a week so they really know the inventory," she says.

Herman of Prudential Douglas Elliman advises brokers dealing with buyers to encourage them to "just make an offer."

"With the seller, sometimes the first offer is the best one and they don't know it," she says. "And if the buyer doesn't like the counteroffer from the seller, the broker can have the buyer place a standing offer."

Currently, building relationships even with those individuals who don't buy may also pay off in the future, says John Reinhardt, president of Fillmore Real Estate.

"Before, the buyer who bought an apartment was given all the attention and the others were neglected," he says. "These days, every potential customer who walks in the door, you should develop a relationship."

Pick your shots

In life, it is often said you only have one chance to make a first impression and in real estate, brokers agree that means always showing a property at its best, beginning with its entrance into the market.

Corcoran's Di Domenico said sellers are now realizing the cost of staging -- which involves having a professional come in to make an apartment more presentable, and which many brokers dismissed during the hot market when anything would sell -- is now worth the investment.

"You have to bring the seller into the thinking that the property has to show like a showplace, and it has to show like that throughout all of the showing schedule," says Di Domenico.

Helping a client out with other parts of the real estate transaction is also key for a broker, he says.

"In today's market, the more services a broker can offer -- an experienced attorney, a home stager, a home interior designer, mortgage broker -- the better assurance you have the transaction will go smoothly," he says.

Herman of Prudential Douglas Elliman said brokers should still invest significantly in marketing, even if there is less money to go around in a slower market.

"I don't believe you should cut out marketing. It is probably even more important today than it was a year ago," she says. "A year ago, properties sold and marketing may not have made much of a difference. Now, I think, marketing is very important."

Reinhardt of Fillmore agrees with Herman, but points out that not all marketing needs to cost a bundle. "The greatest way to market a property is to put it on the Internet. It's so affordable. People today are going from ink to links," he says.

Find niche markets

When Toby Klein, executive director of sales for Dumbo building owner and developer Two Trees Management, began selling real estate, it was the mid-'80s and interest rates were hovering around 18 percent.

For Klein, her bread and butter wasn't earned on higher-end clients, but through deals with first-time buyers.

"Twenty years ago, I worked a lot with first-time buyers, and I was comfortable helping them. I feel they needed the most help and it just happened to pay off for me because they have stayed with me and they grew and I grew."

She believes that even in today's market, establishing a relationship with a first-time home buyer can pay off for decades and multiple sales to come.

"Most brokers who are just following the commissions will spend very little time with that first-time home buyer if they are just looking to make that multi-million dollar sale. That's a mistake," she says.

Reinhardt said another often-overlooked market involves the thousands of immigrants who settle in the city annually.

"The immigrant market and the blue-collar market are two of the hottest markets right now," he said. "There are so many people who are moving to New York who still want the American dream."

For newbie agent Serniqua Dougherty of Manhattan Home Delivery, her strategy so far has been to diversify by dealing in both sales and rentals.

"Doing both allows me to be open to both," she says. "Rentals is something you can always do to get a check and keep money in your pocket because there is always that student who needs an apartment or that person who just relocated to the city."

Cathy Hobbs is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and interior designer.