The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Anthony Scaramucci’s firm to launch multi-billion-dollar Opportunity Zone fund

Posted: 10 Nov 2018 03:00 PM PST

The Mooch is seizing a new opportunity thanks to the Trump administration. Anthony Scaramucci’s hedge fund Skybridge Capital plans to launch an Opportunity Zone (OZ) fund by the end of the year, according to Business Insider. The firm is seeking to raise up to $3 billion from investors and the fund will be set up as a real estate investment trust. EJF Capital will act as its subadvisor. “This will be a game-changing product for SkyBridge,” […]

Zabar’s scion opens new nightspot on the Lower East Side

Posted: 10 Nov 2018 01:00 PM PST

Oliver Zabar, scion to the Zabar’s empire, is launching his first solo project with a cocktail bar and restaurant on the Lower East Side. The young restaurateur opened his new venture at 252 Broome Street earlier this week, Eater reported. The building, sitting between Orchard and Ludlow Streets, is owned by Lower East Side landlord Samy Mahfar, property records show. The space has room for 65 people, and will offer “elevated” bar food, such as […]

Modern inns are taking on Airbnb

Posted: 10 Nov 2018 12:00 PM PST

A crop of innkeepers are increasing the cool factor of once-stuffy bed and breakfasts to compete against Airbnb. “Bed-and-breakfasts were getting a bad rap for the doilies,” said Heather Turner, marketing director for the Professional Association of Innkeepers International. “The modern B&B doesn’t look like grandma’s house.” There are about 17,000 B&Bs nationwide — a number that’s on the upswing as mid-career professionals get into hospitality, trading in things like needlepoint pillows for free Wi-Fi. […]

A cannabis landlord is this year’s best-performing REIT

Posted: 10 Nov 2018 11:00 AM PST

The country’s best-performing real estate investment trust specializes in an unusual type of tenant: marijuana farms. Innovative Industrial Properties, which owns warehouses where farmers grow cannabis, netted investors a profit of 117 percent over the past year, Bloomberg reported. That makes it by far the most successful REIT at a time when many big-name trusts are struggling. But the returns come with a major risk: it is technically breaking federal laws. Although all the states […]

Wildfires in Southern California force 88K home evacuations, torch iconic properties

Posted: 10 Nov 2018 10:00 AM PST

Fires in Southern California forced residents to flee from at least 88,000 homes on Friday, as a blaze in Northern California burned down an entire town. California’s painful year of deadly and property-devastating fires reared its head once again amid strong winds and Indian Summer temperatures. And homeowners should brace for even more non-renewals of their policies, according to one insurance research data firm. The Woolsey Fire, blazing along the Los Angeles and Ventura County […]

How to deal with a seller who hoards

Posted: 10 Nov 2018 09:00 AM PST

With as much as 6 percent of the U.S. population affected by hoarding, real estate brokers often have to navigate deals where a client is suffering from the disorder. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, symptoms include “difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value” which “results in the accumulation of possessions that congest and clutter active living areas and substantially compromises their intended use.” Rita Danielle Steele, […]

Foreign buyers are still splurging on these pricey London properties

Posted: 10 Nov 2018 08:00 AM PST

Foreign buyers have poured money into pricey London properties recently. Nearly £400 million, or $520 million, to be exact. One Chinese buyer spent £105 million, or $136 million, on a penthouse and another unit at One Grosvenor Square, reported the Sunday Telegraph. It was once the U.S. embassy and later home to the Canadian High Commission. Another property in the same development, the Ambassador’s House, sold for about £50 million, or $65 million. Yet another […]

The most expensive real estate in South Florida might not be what you think it is

Posted: 10 Nov 2018 07:00 AM PST

UPDATED Nov. 8, 8:25 a.m.: At The Estates at Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach, the most expensive real estate doesn’t even allow for an overnight stay. Poolside cabanas at the luxury two-tower condominium project now under construction have presold for as much as $2.5 million, or nearly $7,500 per square foot. That ranks them as the highest-priced property in South Florida on a per foot basis — and far above the average $1,700 per square […]

Yes, and: Brokers turn to improv to help them succeed in real estate

Posted: 10 Nov 2018 06:00 AM PST

The real estate industry is trying to locate its funny bone in the name of cold hard cash. Agents looking for a boost are taking improv classes to help them hone skills like thinking quickly, dealing with objections and managing unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations, according to Inman. The technique comes highly recommended from celebrity broker Ryan Serhant, who writes about its importance at length in his book “Sell it like Serhant.” “When you practice improv, […]