Customer Reviews

Manhattan Condo Book

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are shopping for a condo in Manhattan, this book will be very interesting because as you know, there is a huge maze of co-ops and if you want a condo, you'll need this book to weed them out of the crowd.

While the book shows great photos of the buildings, and maps of NY, and tells you the year built and/or converted to condo, the statistical data on sold apartments runs 12/96 thru 5/98. Since Manhattan condo prices tend to go up anywhere from 15% to 65% per year, the sales data will always be incorrect -- and you'll have no way to ballpark any "real" numbers.

You MUST buy the Sunday NY Times or search the Sunday NY Times on-line classifieds (it's called nytoday.com) over a period of weeks to accurately determine the asking prices of condos. Forget the sales data in this book and use the book for all other superficial information around choosing neighborhoods and buildings, and viewing apartments.

A final note: don't believe the brokers. They will all tell you that the sellers are all getting their asking prices plus 10% during the typical bidding wars that take place over NYC apartments. Nonsense. Bid what you think the apartment is worth and if they won't sell it to you for that price, move on. There are always apartments going up for sale and the next one will be yours!

Excellent book on Manhattan Condo buildings. Needs to have updated sales numbers for each building.

it served no purpose to me except to act as a directory of building addresses

A must for any Manhattan Condo buyer. Great building photography, accurate sales data and well organized. The first easy to use real estate resource for a consumers. I loved the maps and pocket size of book.