December 2020

The Ronita Kalra Team has joined Compass! Thank you all for your kind words of support and for the warm welcome. 2020 has been a crazy year and so to shake things up I thought it was the perfect time for a change. My New York team is here to continue to service our clients, family and friends with all of their real estate needs here in NYC and upstate NY. We are your advisors, with boots on the ground we are living and breathing this real estate market and we are here to give you the pulse in real time. Looking forward to crushing our goals with all the new tools we have at our fingertips in 2021!

We know this year we are not celebrating as we normally do but it's still a time to reflect. Gifts and trips are not the priority for our family (and I'm sure many of yours) this year and I'm finding myself a little lost with this change of pace. However, I do feel as if the universe gave us a good shake and took us out of our routines and traditions for a reason. Our family is now more patient, more understanding and content with just spending time with each other. In the end, thats all that matters anyways, right? From my team and my family to yours, we wish you healthy and safe holidays. Hold your loved ones tight this year. Better days are ahead New York!

Pfizer and Moderna have released their vaccines here in the US and already thousands of New Yorkers have been injected. There is a lot of fear in NYC and beyond around taking a vaccine that was rushed... and who can blame them?  I am not a medical professional however I trust that if they are the first ones getting the vaccine they must feel confident and comfortable with the vaccine. Let's put this damn pandemic behind us and get back to big gatherings, eating indoors, open houses and HUGS! I am looking forward to a world where this pandemic is no longer a global crisis and just another disease to add to the list of ones we have eradicated or at least lessened with a vaccine. 

Restaurants are the fabric of NYC. Hospitality and dining in New York City lives to take care of us, and now it's our turn to return the favor. Therefore, this month I'd like to highlight an organization that I believe is doing critical work during these tough times in New York - Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants or ROAR. ROAR is partnering with the non-profit organization, Robin Hood to raise donations for an NYC restaurant employee relief fund. Visit their website here, to see how you can get involved!

November 2020

GIVE THANKS!

We hope you had a safe Thanksgiving. Although plans may be a little different this year we should remember to count our blessings. I am thankful for the food we got to eat, the family I was able to feed and the fact that we all are in good health.

Speaking of food, If you are in New York City and are looking for specialty deserts or pastries check out Butterfield Market. They offer the best of New York, offering delicious sweets from Harlem Baking Co, David Burke, Tates of SouthHampton, etc. the gourmet marketplace also has bagels, pizza, sushi and a full deli.
This year we are sadly missing our soup kitchen volunteer work at Holy Apostle. Although, we can not donate our time out of precaution for our families who we are seeing over the holidays, we are still committed to helping however we can. Check out this webpage to see how you can also help feed the homeless of our city of New York . https://donate.holyapostlessoupkitchen.org/
On behalf of my real estate team, Nancy, Brenda and myself we hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving and thank you to all of our friends, clients and colleagues for trusting us with your real estate transactions. We appreciate you and are so grateful to you all for everything!

RTWR & @IsaacBoots founder of TORCH’ED

Speaking of giving back and being thankful, this month I had the pleasure of speaking with Isaac Calpito on Real Talk with Ronnie, who is a celebrity trainer, former Broadway star and avid philanthropist. Over quarantine, I was doing his workouts daily and was so thankful to him as he would go live everyday, throw on a sick soundtrack and make me move my body which ultimately did keep me sane. I realized quickly he was a man of many talents and I knew I had to bring him on my Real Talk with Ronnie podcast. Listen to the full podcast here (iTunes) (Spotify) or watch on IGTV and learn how he turned quarantine free workouts into a way to raise over a million dollars for @nokidhungry. It's inspiring and he is everything we need to put a smile on our faces this holiday season.

DEAL OF THE MONTH
106 West 123 #PH

     106 West 123 Street #PH has finally CLOSED! Covid season within the real estate industry is definitely going to have its own collection of stories that can never be replicated. This Manhattan property is no different. From the start it was super attractive in terms of pricing, location and layout for New York. At $1,650,000 I received an offer after my first open house. “Amazing”, I thought; I knew I had it priced right since I recently sold something else on the block. This offer only solidified that theory. The deal ended up falling through because the buyer brought a contractor and decided what he wanted to do to customize the space was over his budget. Mind you this Harlem place is turn-key but he wanted to make cosmetic changes to the kitchen. “Ok, back to square one” I said to myself. Then I had another offer from a couple right before the lockdown. Guess what? During quarantine they backed out. “Ok, once we can start working again I’m back to square one” I tried to reassure myself. Months later we go back on the market at a lower price, $1,495,000. I received an offer right away, a lovely couple with two kids who only needed two bedrooms since one was an adult child and he did not live with them. During negotiation their poor son lost his job, so they backed out as they were now in the market for three bedrooms, since their son needed to come back home. “Back to square one, again”. Finally, after a few weeks of countless NYC showings I had the perfect candidate. Each deal, each sale, has its very own story and this one - I almost sold three times before it actually closed. Fourth time's a charm for this Harlem duplex. We closed at $1,350,000 and due to the pandemic, the buyer got an amazing deal, especially for New York City.

October 2020

VOTE!

   I'II keep this short since I know everyone is preaching this but it needs to be said, please vote. It is our responsibility as citizens to vote and we should be the change we wish to see in the world; by electing officials who we align with. If you are registered to vote in person in NYC here is where you can find where your polling site will be for voting early and for New York day of. VOTE 

REAL ESTATE MARKET UPDATE
Some good news, we saw an increase in sales price this September vs last September which is a great sign for the real estate market. The real estate discounts being offered are also shrinking. See the home contract signed report broken down below and you can view the PDF released by Douglas Elliman here.

SEPTEMBER ’20 vs SEPTEMBER ‘19                                         

FOR COOPS                                       

• Average home sales price increased to $1,170,358 from $1,119,907 

• Median home sales price decreased to $767,500 from $790,000 

• Discount from Original Asking Price increased to 10.3% from 7.6% 

• Discount from Last Asking Price increased to 5.4% from 4.1% 

• Initial Index offer increased to 7.03% from 6.25% 

• Transactions over $1,000,000 remained the same at 36%   

• Transactions under $1,000,000 remained the same at 64% 

• Median number of days on market to C/S, from last ask price decreased to 62 from 75 days 

• 64% of Coop Sales are financed of which 86% are contingent on financing 

• 4% of buyers are international 

• 11% of Coops sold at ask & above the asking price. 

FOR CONDOS 

• Average condo sales price increased to $2,904,387 from $2,272,318 

• Median condo sales price decreased to $1,475,000 from $1,825,000  

• Discount from Original Asking Price increased to 11.9% from 8.1% 

• Discount from Last Asking Price increased to 9.2% from 5.4% 

• Initial Index offer increased to 7.97% from 6.82% 

• Transactions over $1,000,000 increased to 74% from 69%  

• Transactions under $1,000,000 decreased to 26% from 31% 

• Median number of days on market to C/S, from last ask price decreased to 38 from 65 days 

• 66% of Condo Sales are financed of which 80% are contingent on financing 

• 23.4% of Condo Sales are New Developments 

• 16% of buyers are international 

•  20% of Condos sold at ask & above the asking price.  

• Number of Active listings for Coops and Condos on the market increased by 11.5%

FALL FUN

   Is it even October in New York if you haven’t instagrammed yourself or your kid in a pumpkin patch? If you are late to the party here are some fun farms to visit, right outside NYC to get your taste of delicious apple cider donuts, hot chocolate, and pumpkin everything. 

1.Pumpkin Point - Governors Island
2.Decker Farm - Staten Island
3.AlbertH. Schmitt Family Farm - Long Island
4.Dykeman Farm - Pawling NY
5.Queens Country Farm Museum
6.Fishkill Farms -NY state
7.Elwood Farms - Long Island
8.Fairfield Farms and Greenhouses - NJ
9.Westwind Orchard - NY state
10.Finks Country Farm - NY state

OH THE POSSIBILITIES!
 325 CONVENT NEW RENDERINGS!

   Take a look at the possibilities of what could be in a new investment property! Are you looking for a home project? Here is your chance to customize a 20 foot wide mansion in Hamilton Heights, New York. Take your time to soak in the history, the woodwork, the fireplaces and still have the ability to modernize the kitchen and the bathrooms to your specifications. At at time when the entire city is looking for more space, this house gives you the best of both worlds - backyard, space, light and you still get to live in NYC!