FINDING HOME
My Wife and Kids… and Clothes!

Lori and Brendan were ready to move out of their 12 year rental in Chelsea. As their friends had done, they expected they’d follow: You party downtown in your youth, then grow up, get married, and move to the Upper East Side.

Prior to our meeting, they had toured over 50 apartments. They looked at 3-4 bedrooms, almost all co-ops, and mostly combined units (two neighboring apartments combined into one). The prices were good and the monthlies were high - as is typical on the UES.

In each home, however, Lori felt the space wasn’t enough. She was a business owner with incredible style, and a fashion line of her own. As they expected to have kids in a few years, they knew they’d need room for the entire family: Parents, grandparents, kids, and her clothes!

Here’s where their priorities started:

• Quiet area with easy access to their work in Flatiron

• The more bathrooms the merrier

• Four sizeable bedrooms

• Renovated & move-in ready

Among their options:

No. 1:
The Lenox Hill Panorama

With the floor to ceiling windows throughout, and a panoramic view of the UES, this building gave a condo feel in a co-op setting. The home had been renovated from top to bottom, and the sticker price was way under budget. Of course, the market calls for balance - and the $9k monthly building fees left an impact. The home had been formed out of two units sitting atop one another, giving way to a gorgeous spiral staircase in the center (Let me know if you’d like to see that shot - I’ll pass it along). With 3200sf, 3 beds, 4.5 baths, and a downstairs den, this home offered plenty of room to grow.

No. 2:
The UES Classic

They loved the pre-war charm and boutique feel offered by this classic UES co-op. Pricing was appropriate, even for a unit with $6k in monthly building fees. This home offered two separate living spaces, and we spent approximately 45 minutes in here, planning out how walls could be moved around to carve out their closet. Even with 3 beds and 3 baths, we’d need to work a little magic to make this home fit their needs.

No. 3:
The Downtown Wild Card

Lori and Brendan wanted a quiet neighborhood where they could comfortably and casually push around a stroller. While the UES was where their friends all moved, Lori & Brendan had enjoyed every minute of living downtown - and wished they could merge the two. I suggested a look in the quiet enclave of Western Tribeca and sent them this condop. This home was bit of a walk to the trains, but close to the West Side Highway and the incredible playgrounds of Piers 25 and 26. It was roughly 2000sf with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms - the smallest of all three units, highest sticker price, and monthly building fees sat in the middle.

*names have been changed

Which Home Do You Think They Chose?

LORI & BRENDAN’S HOME:
THE DOWNTOWN WILD CARD
At some point, the homes you see start to run together. Lori and Brendan had seen fifty homes prior to our meeting - which meant they had likely seen different iterations of the same home, over and over again.

We did check out a few UES homes together — including some of the spots they had already seen — largely so I could see how they experience a home. I observed what stood out to them, where they got stuck, and how they felt after leaving a space and walked around the block.

Ultimately, we realized that they felt most at home downtown. The UES offered a quiet neighborhood where they could push around a stroller, along with easy train access. Western Tribeca offered the former, but felt disconnected from the trains. Still, the opportunity to live downtown, have a stunning view of the Hudson, and take their future kids to the coolest playgrounds in the city felt like a win for them. And they knew their friends uptown would take every chance they could get to come party with them in Tribeca 😉 

MARKET INDICATOR
Manhattan

As you’ll often hear me say: the pattern matters more than the figures. I find it interesting that contract signings didn’t change much between July and August last year, but did drop this year - even while mortgage rates went down this August. The drop in new inventory is unsurprising, and I’m eager to see how the Autumn spike turns out this month.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn demand isn’t faltering. Notice how contract signings have surpassed new listings all Summer - a season typically seen as slow moving. With the expected September spike in inventory, along with the recent drop in mortgage rates, I’m eager to see how contract signings respond come October.

DESIGN INSPO
Antoni Porowski Preaches Comfort & Personality

I eat AD’s Open Door series for breakfast, and this tour through Antoni Porowski’s Manhattan condo served double duty today. I hit pause 2 minutes in to take his advice: toasted up za’atar and oil in a pan, then turned the heat up nice and high, and cracked open two eggs on top. Those beautiful crispy edges had me fully satisfied, while his geeky taste in art left me begging for more.

Antoni clearly didn’t get the memo that when you make it big, every inch of your home must be sophisticated, expensive, and follow strict design rules:
The Darth Vader toy he found in the dumpster sits beside his Chewbacca action figure from Target. Art and photos of his dog, Neon, are featured in every room - including a mockup of him dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi, weilding a light saber. And the greatest sin of all: he has a sectional sofa in his living room, *gasp!* But of course, for him, comfort and personality reign supreme.

Take a look at his AD Open House tour - I’m keen to know your thoughts.