NEW YORK HOUSING POLICY
AKA WHY DO WE KEEP DOING THE SAME THINGS THAT JUST KEEP HURTING HOUSING?
By Gregory Healy of Sovereign Associates Inc.
A little about me:
My Bachelor’s degree was as an engineer out of Columbia SEAS ('82), and then my Master's degree in marketing management was from Baruch ('89).
I started working in Real Estate for a commercial mortgage broker. My first residential brokerage was All Boros Realty at 4455 Broadway (W. 191st St), and the first apartment I brokered was a 1-bed in Inwood. From there, I moved to Stein-Perry on West 181st St., Then Fenwick-Keats on West 79th St. Eventually, I helped Fenwick-Keats open an office on Fort Washington Avenue and then created my own Northern Manhattan brokerage, Sovereign Associates, Inc., in 2001.
Those who have worked with me will say I'm a bit of a housing 'evangelist' or 'educator' - I spend a good deal of time sharing my knowledge on NYC Real Estate – particularly why Manhattan's rental inventory is currently so limited and expensive. Looking back to the early 90s, most of the rental stock I saw until 1996 was just not great housing. I didn't understand why that was: in our capitalist system, money moves to where it can make a return, people go to where they can be employed, and materials can be shipped anywhere – so WHY were rental apartments in the 1990s generally not "nice"? Particularly as the vast majority of small owners I've met and worked with over the years want to deliver a good product at a fair price to get a reasonable return. Some regulatory laws are needed in every industry, including the housing industry. Sadly, our laws for the last 70-plus years have had a negative effect on rental housing.
Let's take a break here. I'll write more on this topic in next month's post. In the meantime, enjoy looking at some of our great listings for this month!
