New York City has long been a victim of its own success. If you look around the island, you will see an array of condo buildings that have been built. They range from incredibly ugly to some of the most immaculate and well-conceived residential homes on the globe. The historic strength of the residential market has bailed out a lot of the sub-par development projects and made heroes (and millionaires) of their developers. In a strong market, everyone is a hero. In a challenging market, the best quality sells. Right now, parts of New York City are littered like a graveyard with failed condo buildings. A project downtown on the East River has been stalled for the last four years because it is tilting and the integrity of the foundation is in question. On the opposite side of the island off the Hudson River, lies a half-baked five-star luxury project that is completely stalled. In both cases, the (un)lucky people who were in contract to purchase these homes have been given their money back. And then, there are the projects that have begun but are now delayed and running on fumes. Interestingly, none of these failures are collateral damage in relation to Covid 19. Instead, they are the result of total incompetence.
I’m stating the obvious, but the first two questions a buyer should ask when buying a home is “Who is building it? What is their track record”? Yet, these are questions that are almost never brought up in the sales process.
“Who” the developer is should be one of the most important parts of a buyer’s due diligence. It takes skill, expertise, and determination to construct a building of quality in New York City. It takes money to get a project out of the ground. All of this is required to succeed and build something special. There are too many projects built by experts in finance, art, business, etc., and not nearly enough projects being built by experts in real estate.
If there’s a problem with a home, the first person a disgruntled buyer calls is their agent. My personal brand has largely been built by the homes I’ve sold and the developers with whom I have chosen to work. I’ve come to learn that as a sales agent and new development consultant, it’s most important to associate oneself with credible experts who deliver exactly what a buyer is promised.
Trust me. In more than 30 years of doing this, I have dealt with more disreputable “developers” than I can count. Ones that over-promise and under-deliver, and worse, many who promise and deliver nothing. Calling yourself a “real estate developer” in this town is easy – actually being one takes years of experience, dedication to the work, and a commitment to creating a building worthy of New York and a home worthy of a New Yorker.
Remind your clients to ask the right questions about the homes they are buying. Do your research and help them do theirs. Remember, it is not just our job to sell them an apartment. It is our job to guide them in making the most important financial decision they will likely ever make. A person’s home is literally their foundation – and who built that foundation should be a much bigger part of the conversation than it is now.
Let’s do this!
-Shaun