The Best Things Come In Small Packages

My friend Jason -- yet again -- is featured for his smart use of his small but adorable Chelsea apartment.

I remember what that place looked like when we were trying to rent it back in 2009. Jason has done an amazing job with the place.

Right now I have a whole bunch of one bedrooms around $3500 or so right off Fifth Avenue along the Upper East Side. Below is one of them on 88th Street and Fifth Avenue. It's a great deal for $3500, large enough for a couple, and in a lovely elevator building.

Full specs here.

New Huffington Post Piece

I'm at it again over on The Huffington Post, with a piece that explains why the vacancy rate in Manattah has tightened up and why rents have gone up more than most expected this year.

Three Reasons Why Vacancy Is Tight in Manhattan and Rents Are Higher

I Love It When I'm Right, Which Is Often

Back in January, I wrote a piece for The Huffington Post about how, from my perch in the trenches on Manhattan real estate, it seemed as if the rental market was changing -- rents were higher, there were fewer incentives for tenants, etc. Most of my clients this past winter were relocating to the city with well-paid jobs. Many were frustrated by the lack of no-fee apartments, or that the owner wouldn't throw in a free month of rent.

Is A Warming Rental Market A Sign Of A Better Economy

Today, the New York Post had a piece about how, in fact, according to real numbers, there is less inventory and rent is higher.

The Rent's High? Too Damn Bad

And the Wall Street Journal, last week.

Manhattan Rents on the Rise

Inside a lovely limestone building on 75th Street and Fifth Avenue this afternoon. Marble lobby, original mosaic tile floors and cast iron doors. Gilded age detail everywhere. A one bed going for $4300. Oddly, I have three apartments available on this one block, literally steps from Central Park.

Fifth Avenue And 67th Street One Bedroom $3650!

This is a deal. An 840 square foot one bedroom with a proper entry foyer for $3650. E. 67th Street between Fifth Avenue and Madison. Elevator/laundry building and Central Park is literally half a block away.

South facing and fully renovated. Would be perfect for a couple.

Come Live In My Building!

There is an enormous one bedroom (750 square feet)-- on the 18th floor -- available in my building for $2650 a month (?!?!). At that price, it might as well be free. It's a sponsor unit in a co-op, so no crazy application fees.

Building has doorman, elevator, laundry, finished roof deck, garage and most dogs are OK. Most important: share space with Clan Millard!

Related: If you're looking to buy, the sponsor (guy who owns the building) is selling off most of the units he owned and has been renting out. No board approval and parents can buy for children. All units are renovated. Studios start around $300K, depending on the floor. One bedrooms start at $500K. Get your checkbook!

Full specs on the rental here.

This piece from Bloomberg pretty much echos everything I've been crowing about for the past four months about the rental market changing drastically from the past two years.

Free rent and paid broker fees are going the way of the Dodo bird. Welcome to the spring and summer rental market!
Manhattan Apartment Rents Jump as Owners Curb Incentives in Tighter Market

Murray Hill Park Avenue Penthouse Level Duplex

Oh, Murray Hill. Why do I like you so much? You're as vanilla as a neighborhood can get, and yet you offer everything I need: grocery stores, nice restaurants, and a huge park for the boy to run around in.

Also: you have apartments like this for $5800 a month. A two bedroom penthouse duplex with two terraces. A formal dining room. Two and a half baths. White glove doorman. Hardly the den for the post-college, Daddy's-Paying-My-Rent set.

Full specs and floor plans here. Who says Murray Hill doesn't have flava?

If there's one economic indicator that I'm obsessed with (and who doesn't have a favorite?) it's the unemployment rate. Moreso than new home sales or construction, the unemployment rate, specifically in New York City, affects my business directly. If you don't have a job, you can't rent an apartment. If you can't rent an apartment, then I make no commission.

This piece about the national unemployment rate dropping to 8.8% was good news. Since all economics is local, I'm even more pleased to see that it's 8.7% in New York State. It's slightly higher in New York City, but the data includes all five boroughs, not just Manhattan. The Bronx, which has a ridiculously high unemployment rate, skews the numbers.

According to this chart, unemployment in Manhattan is less then 8.0% While still high, it's lower than it was last year.

A few days ago Business Insider ran the following chart that also implies an increase in hiring.

This is the private payrolls diffusion index. When the breadth of industries adding jobs is as wide as it is, payrolls will advance.


All this means that as a tenant -- in Manhattan -- you can't belly ache that the economy is bad and therefore the rent shouldn't go up. (I've been getting a lot of that lately.) If people are employed, then their $3000 apartment from two years ago is now going to be $3200 or more, because the owner can clearly get $3200 from a new tenant.

There's another, more basic reason for rising rents in Manhattan: inflation. Prices go up over time. You don't need a Ph.D in economics to know this. Landlords are running a business, not a charity. To think that rent will never go up, despite the rising cost of heating oil, basic maintenance, local taxes, etc. is silly. While you may be renter, the owner is just that -- a building owner -- and he is absorbing all the costs of owning real property. If a boiler needs to be replaced or a roof patched, it will be reflected in your rent -- recession or no recession.

And that, mes amis, is why the brief, halcyon days on lower rents in Manhattan is finished.

A Room Without A View: The Windowless Gramercy Apartment -- $2200!

Yesterday while out with a client I came across this gem -- a large one bedroom apartment in a Gramercy building with laundry and elevator that is completely windowless. This dungeon can be yours for only $2200 a month! (I'm 90% sure that windowless apartments are illegal.)

Even better: the super (who is a dead ringer for Schneider from One Day At A Time) told me today that the only reason it's vacant is because the people who rented it before were using it as an illegal casino. The door is even dented up where the cops had to bust in. (Schneider seemed really proud of that fact.)

It actually could be a good deal if someone needs cheap office space. It's right off Third Avenue in prime Gramercy. Schneider, by the way, mentioned he would really like it if the next tenant was a massage parlor.

Let's do the apartment 360:

The whole place is easily 600 square feet.






Pretty decent kitchen. Full sized appliances!


Bedroom is large -- but still windowless. Would make a great Champagne Room.

East Seventh Street Two Bed/Two Bath -- Three Working Fireplaces!!!

To mix things up a little this afternoon I checked out some new places in the East Village, and found this two bedroom, two bath with a washer/dryer. Even better, it has three working fireplaces. Also, it's one flight up. Crazytown.

Full specs here.

Are You Depressed? This Apartment Will Cure You!

It is said that sunlight will cure a case of the doldrums. If the cold weather/Halloween candy sugar low has you down, then let's take a walk over to Rector Place and look at this 23rd floor apartment.

It's your standard white glove doorman building with gym and pool. 360 degree exposures. The giant living room has views of the Statue of Liberty. The kitchen, among its many amenities, has a climate controlled wine rack. Both bedrooms are king sized and have floor to ceiling windows.

It's bananas, inside and out. At $7550, also slightly under priced.

55th Street One Bedroom Penthouse With Wrap Terrace

The wonkyness of pre-war buildings will always appeal to me. Sometimes the most boring looking building has quite a few treasures within. It makes me wonder who, in 1920, thought it would be a good idea to put a wrap terrace around a one bedroom -- in the middle of Midtown? Who's the architect with the sense of humor?

That's exactly what we have below: a very bright one bedroom with a wrap terrace on 55th Street and Fifth Avenue. It is newly renovated, has a windowed kitchen with new appliances and a large bedroom with northern and southern exposures, as well as multiple access to the deck. It's also only $3275 a month, a deal, especially if you are one person in need of a bachelor pad.

Full specs here.

Yes, Virginia, I Also Sell Apartments

While I am acutely aware of my strength as a rental magician, I actually do sales as well. Case in point: This large one bedroom that I have on 36th Street between Second And Third Avenue. 19th floor, great views, doorman building with roof deck. $575,000. Co-op. Pets and pied-a-terres OK!

It's a great deal, especially if you need to be within walking distance of Grand Central or you work in Midtown. I'm

Living room. This apartment has been converted into two bedrooms, so the living is quite large.


Master bedroom


Roofdeck


Building facade

It's almost the weekend, which means the apartment hunters will be out in full force.

My company has an exclusive on the place below. It's the full floor of a brownstone on 14th Street and Seventh Avenue. Three real bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a wet bar, a dining room and living room, plus a balcony. Sweeping cathedral ceilings, parlor level and bright.

For the past eight years it's been the ultimate bachelor pad for three guys in finance, until they recently realized they were in their mid 30s and probably should live on their own. Or at least get married.

Bad news for them, good news for someone looking for a very unique space that could entertain a lot of people. $9800.

Living and dining room


A different view


Kitchen


One huge bedroom. It's the size of most studio apartments. You could fit a bedroom and a living set in here.


Another bedroom, just as large


Same room, different angle. Great closets.


Little alcove area. Note wood floors and high ceilings


Large (and clean!) bathroom

It's been a very busy week here in Planet Pauline. But, in all the kerfuffle, I found two great deals.

First, the big guy: A real three bedroom in a lovely, pre-war doorman building on Madison and 36th Street in Historic Murray Hill. Huge living area, enormous bedrooms and a kitchen that would make any chef happy. Working fireplace as well.



If $6,000 a month isn't in the budget, (it happens) then this little guy on East 88th Street is the deal of the day. It's a real one bedroom with a new kitchen and an enormous backyard. It even comes with patio furniture and a grill. $1795 for outdoor space in Manhattan. Full specs here.

East 72nd and Park One Bedroom. Yes, $3200!

I don't often venture to the Upper East Side. It's an area that is zoned mostly for residential and the inventory is vast. I do, however, like the East 60s and low East 70s. Before there was Carrie Bradshaw, there was Holly GoLightly, and she lived in the East 70s. It's an area that's aged well in terms of keeping its charm but not feeling stodgy.

Today I saw this one bedroom, on 72nd Street between Park and Lexington. It's a large and livable space in an elevator and laundry building. No doorman, but there's a great, live in super. Four blocks from the 68th Street subway station and a very short walk to Central Park.

It's $3200. Totally under priced for the amount of space and the clean renovation. It faces south and is pin drop quiet. Full specs here.

One Building, Two Exclusives

This was the week of new exclusives. I have two new ones on 37th and Park, in a gorgeous townhouse that has laundry.

First, the $2200 one bed. Deco fireplace, high ceilings, new kitchen and tons of closets. Third floor walk up.


On the first floor is a mammoth floor through unit with a backyard. It could also be used as professional space. Enormous living rooms and bedrooms, built in book cases, two bathrooms and yard. New kitchen, tons of closets. $4400.

Williamsburg has come into its own since I came to New York City eleven years ago. What used to be a dirty, hipster enclave has matured into a clean, hipster enclave with lots of new developments. And cafes!

Below is such an apartment in a new development. It's a large one bedroom with gorgeous shared outdoor space. It's off the Lorimer stop on the L train.

Slideshow below. Full specs here. $1800.