Real Estate News - new york

Where are the Boomers Going?

Staten Island with a current population of 485,144 is typically a bucolic bedroom community with the majority of residences comprised of privately owned one- and two-family homes. Current average home value is $556,601.    Of some 167,672 households, 47.3% are over the age of 55 with an anticipated growth rate in senior ownership of .63% by 2023.   

There are few if any options for Staten Island’s aging population who are looking to downsize, or who no longer can or want to manage the day-to-day maintenance of a private home and who wish to stay near their families in the community they have established a life in.  With such a large customer base, it is hard to imagine that there not more available product. 

There is currently only one luxury 55+…

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Calling all Programmers

Since Casandra Properties was founded back in 1989 by mom, the Real Estate industry has undergone so many changes. We’ve talked about this quite a bit in some of our other posts and while it’s changed dramatically we believe that the most exciting times, and our ability to really use technology to drive sales, still lies ahead. 

When I started in the business we were over the moon excited about the dial up modem and the fact that we could once a day, get the hot sheets that provided new listings. However, this process was not a quick one. This required the patience to strap the phone into the device that communicated to the server and printed on our dot matrix a daily report!  As time marched on the innovations came fast and furious.  The…

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The Importance of Using Professional Photography in Real Estate

While it may not seem like a big deal, some people underestimate the power of using professional photography when listing a property. Below are just a few of the many benefits professional photography can offer.

1. Ability to stage photos

a)   A staged home makes the room look bigger and helps potential buyers envision what the home will look like with furniture. Without staging, pictures can be deceiving and not embellish what the space is capable of.

2. Houses with professional photos tend to sell faster
a)   As a broker, the faster you sell a property the happier your client will be, and they will be more inclined to recommend you to a friend and/or family member or use in the future!

3. Using professional photography can lead to selling a…

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Real Estate Portfolio Optimization (RPO)

Back in 2005, long before most of the competition, we saw very stormy times ahead in the Real Estate and overall economies. In response to this, we developed a program that we called RPO, Real Estate Portfolio Optimization. 

The idea was as the market was shifting there would be a double hit for institutions and Not-for-Profit’s in particular. When you couple a slowing economy with overall budget cuts and the government’s tightening of the belt you end up with a cash crunch for these Not-for-Profit’s. The RPO program was designed to take a look at NFP’s real estate portfolio’s, which shockingly were viewed as liabilities, and convert them into positive cash flowing assets. The strategy was to identify, assess, optimize and where appropriate liquidate -…

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Opportunity Zones

Don’t let numbers fool you, there’s some real opportunities in those zones...

Historically sales numbers and pricing in the census tracts, now known as the opportunity zones, have been tough.  By tough I mean over the last 20 years or so, there has been zero growth.  In fact, there has been a steady decline in not only sales quantity but also pricing.   I was recently reading an article on the Reonomy site and saw the chart in the article. They say a picture’s worth a thousand words... so ouch...very ouch baby....

If that’s not bad enough, since the announcement of the Opportunity Zones being included into the tax laws...yep you guessed it the numbers are still declining!

So what does this mean in our little slice of heaven for Staten Island Real Estate…

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NY's Rent Reform

Our CEO, James Prendamano, spoke to Tracey Porpora from the Staten Island Advance to discuss how rent reform would affect Staten Island tenants and landlords.  The proposed rent reforms would prevent landlords from increasing rents to a maximum level upon lease renewals and would limit rent increases for major capital improvements. The reform also puts an end to high-rent vacancy deregulation and the 20% vacancy bonus.

James was quoted saying, “Tenants are fighting to close some of the loopholes to protect and stabilize rents.  Landlords conversely are fighting to have more control and freedoms over their assets. At the end of the day, we should be striving to find the middle ground. The city and the state continue to be more expensive and…

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Rising Rents in NY

It’s always a pleasure to have the opportunity to discuss Staten Island Real Estate with Tracey Porpora from the Staten Island Advance. Most recently, our CEO James Prendamano, shed some light on the rising rents in Staten Island.  He was quoted saying “The general principals of supply and demand certainly apply here. As Staten Island becomes a more viable option for renters, particularly on the North Shore, the supply, which has been trending upward, simply cannot keep up with the market demands at this time.”

With all that the North Shore has to offer such as magnificent views, close proximity to public transportation and many apartment buildings offering countless amenities it’s no surprise so many people are looking to the North Shore for…

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