The Robb Report is publishing a new magazine, that has its premiere issue on newsstands, called Vertical Living. It covers super-luxury, high rise, developments in global destinations like London, Mexico, Singapore, Australia, and of course, New York City. Contributing editor Kim Fredricks interviewed me about buying into a new development. That interview follows here in its entirety and has some good advice in it; as does the very nicely crafted piece she wrote for the first issue called Small Promises (tear sheet pdf 320 kb) in which I'm quoted. Buying new construction is a place where even the most savvy buyers will benefit from their brokers' depth and breadth of knowledge. I'm pleased indeed to have been asked to comment on a subject that I've written about before. In fact, I learned a couple of weeks ago that my post about closing costs in new developments, is being excerpted and included in the next edition of New York Real Estate for Salespersons, one of the textbooks for the NY State Real Estate licensing exam; it was also a selection in the Carnival of Real Estate which is a sort of traveling show of the best real estate blog posts that Zillow blog's Drew Meyers started up. These are a few nice and unexpected validations, of the connection with the audience and the growth of my blog, which has been public for just shy of a year now.

the Robb Report Vertical Living interview

Vertical Living: Buyers are lured by the benefits of getting a good deal on pricing when buying pre-construction, but what are some red-flags that the buyer should look for before placing a down payment?

Comitini: I don't think that buyers in our market in Manhattan think they are getting a break on price. They are willing to pay well for a premium product. Sometimes with a year or two lead time to delivery, the market accelerates past the contract price and seems a bit better. New construction is generally higher priced than are re-sales, on a price per square foot basis, with higher out of pocket closing costs. Have your broker identify a couple of previous projects of the developer so you can understand if they have performed as expected.

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Today we welcome a Q&A from special guest and real estate diva extraordinaire Barbara Corcoran from her column 'Ask Barbara" in the New York Daily News.

Q. I'm about to buy my first apartment in New York, but how can I tell if a seller's asking price is too high?

A. Asking prices don't have a damn thing to do with sales price, since sellers can ask whatever they want.

It's the buyers who determine the sale prices, based on what they're willing to pay. Often, the asking price merely reflects an oversize ego or a number the seller needs to buy the next house. Well, that nonsense is their problem. The only thing you need to know is what the house is really worth in the open market, and that requires a little reconnaissance work.

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Open House NYC airs weekly on WNBC channel 4 at 8:30 AM on Sunday. What do you think of the show? Feel free to leave a comment here, or drop me an email.

There's a weekly show about real estate in the Tri-State area starting up its season on the local airwaves. Open House NYC is a from lifestyle television producers LXTV and local affiliate NBC4HD. I first heard of Open House several weeks ago when they asked to exchange blogroll links with us. Since then, their online content has been popping up around the Web too, including on Doug Hedding's True Gotham. I like the segments that feature gadgets and home improvements like the one above on 'smart homes'; and today an interview with pal Noah Rosenblatt from UrbanDigs showed up online.

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Firefighters Mike Hughes (NYC) and Mitch Mendler (San Diego, CA)
carry a painting from a memorial tribute erected in Battery Park.

This is an update of 'A September 11th photo journal from ground zero'. This 9/11 was a rainy Tuesday, the site was overcast and more somber than in previous years. The site is now a construction zone as the redevelopment moves into its next phase. This will likely be the last year that families of the victims will be able to walk into the pit where the buildings once stood. I roamed the area surrounding the site this 9/11 again, and added new photos to my set on Flickr. Its not a comprehensive look as much as it is simply a record of my personal visit to the site each year to remember what happened and those who left us that day. The set has scenes from the past several years shot on September 11th.

see my photos: A September 11th Photo Journal
see the NY Times topic World Trade Center