Tuesday, January 13, 2009

New Year - New Market?

Not yet...but experts say the housing bottom should be reached anywhere between 3-6 months so that means by July of 2009 we should start to see an upswing...

In the meantime, the mortgage rate is at an all time low for those with excellent credit as low as 4%. I say - take advantage people!

On Sunday January 11th I took a client on the Art Deco Co-op Bronx Tour. It was great to see all the converted buildings from Bedford Park and Mosholu all the way down the Grand Concourse to the 150th street area.

Lo and behold I was not aware that the Daily News would be on board the tour Trolley Bus. As it happens my client is on the board of the Art Deco Society of New York. Once we made that known the Daily News started snapping pictures of us left and right. I'm told the article is supposed to appear in Friday's Daily News. That should be interesting.

The buildings we saw on the tour were:
601 Pelham Parkway
2244 Bronx Park East
340 Mosholu Parkway
2962 Decatur Ave
1855 Grand Concourse
55 E. 190th St.
3201 Grand Concourse
811 Walton Ave

At least 7 of those buildings were the Pre War Art Deco style buildings that my client was interested in viewing so as to see if she can find her one or 2 bedroom apartment with the usual trimmings - roomy, arched doorways, sunken living room, tall ceilings and even carved molding as we saw in some of the apartments.

The beauty of it is, as much as we are all witnesses to the crash of the housing market as it were and prices are apt to reflect that, it is still almost a surprise to see some of these gorgeously detailed and renovated period buildings with apartments starting at $129,000! This is NOT a little "cozy" studio we are talking about either, but a one bedroom apartment over 800sq ft!

If I was not so happy with my own co-op apartment I would be SO tempted to buy one myself! Spread the word - these culture steeped co-ops, real gems in the heart of the Bronx, with a swift painless commute to Manhattan and an added bonus of being practically in the back yard of the Botanical Gardens and Bronx Zoo, are at your fingertips and affordable to boot! In 3 years or so I expect to see them at least double in value.
 
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