Our main question: How important is finding a home in a particular neighborhood (whether it's a rental or a sale) to your client? How flexible are they with location, would they be willing to venture out into surrounding areas if the apartment itself fits their needs?
Please send over your thoughts on...
a. The general consensus across all your clients - how important is the location to them?
b. Particular client anecdotes: Did you have clients who were dead set on a neighborhood and didn't even steer away from it when there was no inventory?
c.The other direction: Did you have clients who were willing to look all over the place and you helped them hone in on a neighborhood?
d.In your professional opinion, how important is the location in real estate these days? Would you generally advise your clients to narrow their search or are you an advocate of being more flexible regarding location?
Please send over your thoughts on...
a. The general consensus across all your clients - how important is the location to them?
Martin: With the exception of parents wanting to be in a specific school district, buyers are more flexible on neighborhoods than ever. This not only means buyers are willing to look “all dowtown” but also downtown, uptown and Brooklyn. With the gentrification of New York City over the last 30 years, cutie-pie shops, delightful restaurants and well manicured parks are everywhere.
b. Particular client anecdotes: Did you have clients who were dead set on a neighborhood and didn't even steer away from it when there was no inventory?
Martin: Really only school district parents and people caught up in old rules. I.e. I’ll only live below 14th Street or below 86th. Often buyers cling to these rules because a friend told them what to do. Regrettably, their friend’s advice is really doing them a disservice and costing them money and quality of life.
c. The other direction: Did you have clients who were willing to look all over the place and you helped them hone in on a neighborhood?
Martin: see answer d
d. In your professional opinion, how important is the location in real estate these days? Would you generally advise your clients to narrow their search or are you an advocate of being more flexible regarding location?
Martin: I tell my buyers to pick their top 3-5 neighborhoods and spend a Sunday of open houses in each. Interestingly, just after one afternoon most buyers narrow the field down to 1-2. Ultimately it’s about a feel of a neighborhood more than anything else. From there we focus on the property type. Sometimes a property type becomes the most important. When that happens we open up to other neighborhoods. :)