This row house on 7th Street in Hoboken NJ has an interesting glazed brick facade with floor to ceiling windows.  The property is for sale through Hudson Place Realty Inc. for $1,400,000. The lot size is 16.67’ by 50’.  Below right is a picture of this property under construction during November of 2007.  Sign in window indicates Studio One Architects. 

An 800 square foot 2 bedroom garden level condo at 151 Sussex Street, Downtown Jersey City recently sold for approximately $500K or around $600 a square foot.

Sign at 108 Morris Street Downtown Jersey City (below left) indicates estate sale auction of this 4 family property on May 20th through Sheldon Good & Company.  Below right a three story, four unit apartment building at 1140 Garden Street, Hoboken, NJ is being auctioned as well.

Trump Soho hotel condominum at 246 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013

Old coal storage below the sidewalk exposed by the demo of the building at this location spanning between Columbus Drive and Newark Avenue.

Frame row house at 132 Charles Street, West Village, Manhattan.

Article in this Sunday’s real estate section of the NY Times ”Taking The Pulse Of The Boroughs” points out that ”Brooklyn hinges on buyers who can not afford to stay in Manhattan” and ”Brooklyn prices will remain high if Wall Street executives and foreign buyers continue to drive up Manhattan prices.”.  These same assumptions could apply to Hoboken and Downtown Jersey City. Many newly arrived residents of Downtown Jersey City have moved here from Manhattan or from foreign countries. Though some recent residents have relocated from the New Jersey suburbs and other parts of the United States, most would have preferred to move to Manhattan had it been more affordable in the first place.  The above two quotes were taken from page two, paragraph three of the above mentioned NY Times article.

An article from the Jersey City Magazine highlights Amighini Architectural Inc. as specializing in the restoration of old wood doors and windows.  They have a large inventory of antique doors from the United States and Europe.  The Jersey City Magazine is a publication of The Hudson County Reporter Associates, L.P., Amighini Architectural Inc. is located at 246 Beacon Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306.

If you are considering buying a home for the first time and plan to be in a home for a considerable period of time, then considering buying in the next 12 to 24 months. Why? There has been a convergence of market conditions that point to a buying opportunity. First, interest rates are at an all time low which means you can lock in that mortgage rate at historic lows. Second, the real estate market has turned into a buyer’s market with inventory levels rising. Third, the dollar is weak internationally and real estate prices over the long term are subject to the effects of inflation.

The US dollar has declined against the Eurodollar for the past five years. In the short term US housing values are more a function of local supply and demand, but over the long term other less apparent factors could eventually work their way into US housing values and costs. If you are an avid traveler of Europe, then you should have an appreciation of what I am talking about. If your dollar is worth half of what it was worth five or six years ago overseas, than what is your home really worth today. If you sell your home today for double what you paid for it ten years ago (in US dollars) and then take those dollars to Europe, how much appreciation in terms of “true value” did you obtain?

What affect will the weakening US dollar have on US housing prices? Will this put upward pressure on the US housing market over time? Consider the price of oil, gold, and other commodities including the cost of building materials for a home. If gold is $1000 an ounce and the dollar has depreciated by 50% against most major foreign currencies, then gold’s appreciation from $400 to $1000 an ounce is more a function of the depreciating dollar rather than a true increase in the price of gold.

This holds true for oil as well. If oil has risen from a price of $15 a barrel 10 years ago to a price of $105 a barrel today, then what amount of that dollar increase is a result of the depreciation of our own currency (the US dollar). Oil and gold are “international currencies” and many of the building materials we use in our homes are affected by long term changes in exchange rates. What does this mean for housing prices today and in the future and what does this mean for the cost of construction now and in the future?

Housing prices have more than doubled in most regions, but construction costs have risen as well. In many instances material costs have doubled and even tripled, so it may cost twice as much to build that house as compared to what it might have costs ten years ago. If the median and average selling price of a home continues to decline, then construction of new homes will fall dramatically. Why? Because rising construction costs and falling housing prices will squeeze builder’s gross profit margins forcing them to postpone many future projects.

The New York City real estate market is the most likely real estate market to be impacted by the falling dollar, because of its appeal to international investors. While real estate prices are failing in most local US real estate markets, New York City prices continue to rise. Why? Well demand is high and supply is low and the dollar is weak. Foreign investors are hungry for Manhattan real estate and much of the added supply of new construction is swallowed up by foreign investors.

Please note this article was written for information purposes only and should not be relied on to make material financial decisions. Speak to your lawyer, financial advisor and your tax specialist for professional advice in purchasing a home. 

Washington Street is considered to be the main commercial drive in Hoboken.  Newark Avenue is the main retail commercial street in Downtown Jersey City.  But some people complain that there is no true shopping district in Downtown Jersey City. Although many stores line Newark Avenue, this street runs east and west away from the waterfront where most of the commercial and residential property development has taken place. Retail stores are dispersed all over Downtown Jersey City and can be found sporadically dotting many streets, including Grove Street, Christopher Columbus Drive, Jersey Avenue, Washington Boulevard, Erie Street, and Morris Street.  With development moving westward, Newark Street should transform itself into more of a “true shopping district”.  But it will probably take longer than it did in Hoboken where Washington Street runs along the waterfront rather than away from the waterfront.

The price difference between various real estate markets is what many people try to profit from. This is called a price spread. For example, Manhattan residential real estate prices are roughly $1000 a square foot while Downtown Jersey City and other equivalent outlying urban areas of Manhattan might be $550 a square foot, a price spread of $450 ($1000 less $550) a square foot.

Bond traders or people that trade stocks look for price spreads. Bond traders refer to the spread in basis points and yield to maturity. So if a corporate bond yields 8% and an equivalent term US treasury bond yields 6%, then they would say that corporate bonds trade at a spread of 200 basis points or 2% (8% - 6%) to US treasuries.

With real estate markets people reach out to more far reaching markets in the hope that those markets may mature and/or improve and that prices may rise closing the spread between that market and another. Looking at Brooklyn Heights versus Downtown Jersey City there is a significant price spread. The selling price per square foot for housing in Brooklyn Heights is higher than in Downtown Jersey City. Recently I previewed several properties in Brooklyn Heights selling for about $850 a square. Since real estate in Downtown Jersey City is selling for about $550 per square foot, then this would imply a price spread per square foot of $300 ($850 - $550) between these two markets.

Infact depending on the property and its exact location within Brooklyn Heights, prices can far exceed $850 a square foot. On February 6, 2005 an article was published in the New York Times titled “$8.5 million Brownstone Deal Raises the Bar in Brooklyn” pointing out that the prices of row houses in Brooklyn Heights had reached all time new highs.

A lot of development is transpiring in Downtown Jersey City. This development will probably keep prices down in the near term (next couple of years) as a lot of inventory comes on the market and requires market absorption. However beyond the next couple of years as Downtown Jersey City improves, spreads should narrow.

As larger developers complete their projects and advertise them, more attention should be brought to bear on Downtown Jersey City. I speculate that Donald Trump has every intention of marketing his Trump Plaza Jersey City beyond the local markets. Plus let’s not forget about the new $130 million dollar international golf course near Liberty State Park (called the Liberty National Golf Club) and the $4.8 Billion Liberty Harbor North project. These projects should translate into positive marketing exposure for Downtown Jersey City and should result in some international exposure as well.

So expect to see some price spread movements between the above mentioned markets over the next ten years. Although there is no guarantee that the spreads will narrow, I speculate (based on the above circumstances) that the probabilities point to the spreads narrowing rather than widening. 

Mac Ayoubi and Michael Sobsey opened Sobsey’s Produce 18 years ago.  Originally the store was half its current size but as a neighboring flower shop and bridal dress store moved out, they expanded the store to its current size.  Sobsey’s Produce has fine imported foods and organic produce and carries an assortment of fresh fish, such as tuna and salmon. Sobsey’s is located at 92 Bloomfield Street, Hoboken, NJ; (201) 795-9398. Photos taken morning of 1/21/2008.

Top Right: Swiss Premium Yogart by Emmi
Bottom Right: A California Blood Orange

Determining to refinance your mortgage may require a more sophisticated approach than most mortgage calculators provide.

Many years ago when interest rates seemed to be declining almost every day, I attempted to determine the exact point I could benefit from refinancing my home mortgage.  At first I search the internet for a mortgage calculator that could aid me in my decision, but to my disappointment I discovered that they all lacked the sophistication necessary to be of much use.

In fact they were so seriously lacking in their complexity that they were nearly financially ineffectual. So after frustratingly realizing I was not going to find what I needed, I decided to build my own mortgage calculators and in 2005 I transferred them to a browser format making them available to the general public. You can try my mortgage calculators at Mortgage Calculators.

Determining the economic benefits of refinancing depends on many factors, i.e. 1) what is the rate on your existing loan, 2) what is the current rate at which you can refinance, 3) what will it cost you to refinance, 4) how long do you expect to hold the property hence hold the loan, and 5) what is the time value of money. My website RealEstate-Calc.com can help guide you through a step by step approach in the application of these variables.

When creating any financial calculator or model there is a trade off between complexity and simplicity versus effectual and ineffectual and striking the right balance is the key to being a good analyst. “Mathematical modeling”, “manipulation of numeric data” and “displaying numeric results” are all part of an art form! To think otherwise would produce less than superior results.

Most mortgage calculators leave out the ability for the user to adjust for how long they expect to hold the loan and none that I know of allow the user to adjust for the time value of money.  Most do not allow the user to adjust for a mortgage that has already been amortizing for a significant period of time.

These are important variables if you desire more accurate results than the typical mortgage calculator provides.  My mortgage calculators will allow you to adjust for how long you expect to hold a loan (live in the property) and you can adjust for a mortgage that has already been significantly paid down.  You can also consider the effects of making an additional fixed monthly payment to your mortgage.

The Brownstones at Port Imperial are a nice alternative for those not interested in buying the 150 year old brownstone and restoring it.  These 42 modern row houses were constructed about 2 to 3 years ago and originally sold for between $1.1 million and $2.5 million.  Some units have elevators and all units have handsome amenities with views of the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline.  The smaller townhouses are approximately 2700 square feet and the larger townhouses are as much as 4500 square feet.  On the secondary market be prepared to pay between $1.7 and $3.0 million.  Real estate taxes will run you $30,000 to $75,000 annually depending on the townhouse.  Port Imperial is located in Weehawken on the Hudson River.