Open Houses

When you sell your home, during the average listing appointment, the real estate sales associate will tell you that part of the marketing plan is to do a broker open house and public open houses. From a professional's point of view, the broker open house may be the more important of the two. Broker open houses introduce your property to the real estate community...all those people who will be trying to sell your home, potentially. When you have already seen a property, it is much easier to talk about it, and to know whether or not the customer you have been working with would like it. In Hoboken, because the inventory is plentiful and the parking a nightmare, a listing agent will lure her/his colleagues to his open house with food from Margherita's or homemade cheese cake, or sushi! But that exposure is important and worthwhile. Sometimes, for condos that Realtors suspect are "typical", as in railroad style or non-descript 1980s construction, it may be hard for your listing agent to drag agents in. But overall, it is a worthwhile endeavor, especially for more unique or renovated properties.

Public open houses are, unfortunately, rarely productive. I have sold properties from an open house, but it rarely occurs. The statistic often quoted is that 98% of properties for sale do NOT sell through an open house. The initial open house makes sense to introduce the property to the public. Active buyers are watching what is coming on, as are their agents, so the first open house is the best. Sometimes, another open house, after a significant price change, also makes sense. But repeated weekly open houses, touted by some agencies as necessary and what they will "do" for you, are largely a waste of time for a single unit and may arguably make you look "desperate". In fact, many agencies do lots of public open houses primarily for agency exposure, and so that new agents can meet and potentially pick up buyers. The exception to the rule is public open houses for a developer's project of a new building or a recently renovated and condo-ed building. A building with multiple units available is another matter.

Bugs

In most condo sales, in Hoboken anyway, issues with termites or other pests is a rare occurence. Pest problems are less likely in more modern buildings. Mice are a common nuisance in older buildings but easily treatable, either with poison (not the preferred method because the mice can die between the wall and smell) or by old-fashioned traps with peanut butter on them. And many a Hobokenite has has a sudden infestation of tiny ants in the Spring. You know it is Spring in Hoboken when your bathroom has tiny ants all over the floor! These ants swarm and disappear after a few weeks. But real pest problems can arise, particularly when buying or selling a house as opposed to a condo. It is not unusual for the home inspector to discover evidence of termite damage. Often, it is hard to tell if the damage is old or new. Regardless, the bank will want documentation that the property has been treated before they will mortgage a property where a potential problem exists. Evidence of termites is usually nothing to panic about. More often than not, the damage is confined to a small area or may even be old damage that was already treated by the last owner. However, it is often a necessary expense of the seller prior to closing and non-negotiable in terms of the buyer being able to mortgage the property.

What is a "green" building?

There is a lot of buzz about green building these days. As a realtor, when I first heard the term, I thought, “Great, another new gimmick.” I doubted that it was a concept that was worth much, assuming that it was just a new way for builders to separate themselves from the pack, make their building stand out to buyers. I doubted whether the buildings in town claiming “green-ness” were doing much to help the environment. I also wondered whether the whole idea of “green” building was legitimate. What can I say? I’m a skeptic.

But according to the website www.greenbuildingnyc.com, two of the green builders working in town have successful track records and are promising newcomers to this new form of building. Web publisher Stephen T. Del Percio is an authority on green building. A green business and construction attorney who practices in New York and New Jersey, and a LEED Accredited Professional, Del Percio has a BS in civil engineering from Columbia and works for a Manhattan firm that “exclusively services the design, construction, and real estate industries.” In his December 2007 posted article, Stephen T. Del Percio Esq. writes extensively about SJP Properties and Bijou Properties.

New Jersey-based SJP Properties is responsible for the 14-story, 500,000 square foot Waterfront Corporate Center II, the building adjacent to the under-construction W Hotel being built on River Rd. SJP Properties is seeking the Silver level of LEED certification. Del Percio writes, “(the project) will feature the standard LEED features, will include low-flow plumbing, recycled-content construction materials, preferred parking for hybrid vehicles, and efficient HVAC systems.” Del Percio further states that SJP is responsible for 1.6 million square feet of upcoming sustainable real estate development in the New York City area.

In terms of residential real estate, the greenest builder in town seems to be Bijou Properties, the builders on the Garden Street Lofts at 1425 Garden (on 14^th Street). Detailed information on what makes them green is found on their website at www.gardenstreetlofts.com. Additionally, long –known on the realtor grapevine, the parking garage known as Park on Park will be converted by Bijou into residential space and parking. Bijou is responsible for the just-converted building now housing the New York Sports Club, CVS, and Washington Mutual and the plans for development of the parking garage are forthcoming. Del Percio writes: “It’s going to give way to a 12-story, 180 unit LEED Gold mixed-use condominium complex…the $100 million project, designed by Hoboken’s Dean Marchetto Architects, will offer 30,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, 371 parking spots, and a green roof, among numerous other sustainable design elements

So what are the advantages of green building? What is LEED? And why should buyers be interested? LEED certification has been established and defined by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and three designations are possible: bronze, silver, and gold. Designations are determined by a point system. Detailed information on the checklist and point system used to evaluate building construction can be found on www.usgbc.org. Sustainability is a cornerstone of green building. On the website for the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, www.ofee.gov, the 1987 Brundtland Commission Report is quoted: “Sustainable design optimizes resources, restores, and renews them…sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Green building is meant to optimize sustainability by an extensive list of measures. These measures range from water efficiency in the landscaping and heat island effect roofing (a nifty concept used to reduce microclimate change and that sometimes includes a vegetated roof) to indoor environmental quality that includes low-emitting construction materials and building design that optimizes light and air quality. Aside from the obvious intention to help save the environment one building at a time by using recycled wood and materials such as countertops made of recycled glass (which looks remarkably cool by the way), the idea is to reduce building cost in terms of construction and long-term costs for the upkeep and life of the building, thereby saving condo owners money through efficient light, heat and water usage. And not incidentally, to increase quality of life for inhabitants. Many sealants and building materials emit gases that silently can affect air quality and potentially cause long-term health issues in some people sensitive to them.

The downside of green building is accomplishing LEED certification while meeting local building code standards, long waits and additional cost for recycled materials that are not yet widely available, and creating an interest that the public can embrace. Ultimately, buyers must see the monetary value in buying green, in addition to the “feel good” aspect of buying a condo in a building that is designed to gently use the planet’s resources. Green builders must overcome skepticism in buyers who are already wary of the changing market. Buyers will ask themselves: “If I buy in a green building, will that add to my condo’s value in the long run or is this a passing fad? And will buying green reduce my maintenance charges for the common areas and/or reduce my energy and water bills?”

As a Hoboken realtor, I want the answers to these question too so that I can accurately inform my customers. I am hopeful that green building is here to stay and is as financially smart as it seems to be environmentally savvy. Of course, when our bodies and those of our children are bombarded by environmental poisons, anything that reduces our daily intact of environmental poisons can’t be a bad thing if it legitimately does so, right? And in an age where energy is precious, and increasingly alarmingly expensive, sustainable building and architectural design may well be the wave of the future.

Cobblestone Street Homes

In Hoboken, most houses sell for over 1 million. A house 1.2 million or less is typically one that needs a lot of work...renovations costing anywhere from $200,000 to $500,000 or possibly more. The Willow Terrace houses are the exception. My recent listing, now under contract, was listed at $669,000. These houses share common brick walls with their neighbors, and are 12.5 wide on lots of 50 ft deep, whereas most houses in Hoboken are between 13.5 feet wide to 20 ft wide, on Washington St and west with wider houses on Hudson St. or Castle Point Terrace. Willow Terrace homes are on cobblestone streets with "private" parking. These streets are private, and not maintained by the city, other than basic garbage pick-up and sidewalk cleaning. Residents prefer the cobblestone because it helps prevent flooding (rain water mostly seeps into the ground and the dirt crawl spaces rather than backing up in the Willow Street sewers). The folklore is that originally these homes were for Stevens family workers and had no kitchens or bathrooms. Willow Terrace homes that are partly renovated have the bathroom behind the kitchen on the first floor. More renovated versions of these homes have been expanded on the second and third floors, adding at least one bathroom and one or more decks. If you really want a house at condo prices, Willow Terrace is your best bed in Hoboken.