NYT Profile of "Curbed" Founder

Meet the "Realtor - Social Worker" *

The Sunday New York Times has a lengthy profile of Lockhart Steele (yes, that's his real name), the founder of real estate blog "Curbed."

If you didn't know -- and I was only vaguely aware -- Curbed (and other blogs like it) apparently are now integral to how New Yorkers (at least the ones not in the Bronx) buy and sell real estate. Oh, and the properties they're buying are exclusively over $500k -- frequently, a lot over.

Here's what Steele says blogs -- and technology in general -- are doing to the real estate business:

The broker’s job is no longer to tell people what a house is worth, or what nearby properties have sold for — everybody knows that now. Instead, a broker is more useful calming down a buyer agitated by a proliferation of Web gossip. The broker is less salesman, more therapist, or oracle. And by professional obligation, a daily reader of real estate blogs.

--Mark Oppenheimer, "The Optimist's Blogger"; The New York Times (3/15/2010)

So, is Steele right?

Partly.

He's definitely right that prospective Buyers engage with Realtors much "later" in the process.

It's not uncommon now for my clients, at a first meeting (!), to hand me a lengthy list of properties they want to check out (or have already seen!).

Thanks to the Internet, there is exponentially more information available about real estate.

However, in my experience, that doesn't necessarily make Buyers and Sellers more knowledgeable about how the process works.

As far as the "emotional" side of the business, there's no denying that technology makes an already close relationship even closer.

You don't invite your lawyer or dentist into your home, and share intimate details about your family, finances, and lifestyle; trusted Realtors are privy to all that (and more).

Where I think the article misfires, though, is extrapolating from Manhattan to other markets generally -- markets that don't have Manhattan's demographics, density, or money.

At least in the Midwest, not everybody is a Gen-Y'er who lives and breathes Twitter, Facebook, and blogs (at least not yet). Nor are they in the market for $1 million-plus Soho (or NoHo or NoLita or TriBeCa) lofts.

So, maybe the world Steele describes is coming . . . but it's not here yet.

*When Josh Kaplan, a former social worker and now long-time City Lakes office manager, is asked why he got out of social work, his standard reply is, "what make you think I got out of social work??"

Not More Square Feet -- More Per Square Foot

Home Trends 2010: 'Don't Call it a Basement'

First, some background:

The big trends in housing at the moment are being driven by technology, demographics, and economics (primarily, the Recession, and secondarily, energy costs).

Demographics: lots of upper bracket Baby Boomers -- ages 50-65 and on the verge of becoming "empty nesters" -- are suddenly finding themselves with too much house. Not only don't they need 5,000 square foot-plus monster homes, but they don't want the upkeep and property taxes that go with (see, preceding post).

The "Gen X" and "Gen Y" homeowners following immediately behind them are taking the hint, and opting for relatively smaller homes -- say, around 3,500 square feet -- that they won't automatically have to downsize from.

More efficiently used space. The keys to getting by with a smaller house are making it feel bigger, and using all the space efficiently.

Towards that end, here's what I'm seeing in upper bracket homes (with bits and pieces popping up in more modest homes):

--Higher ceilings. The beauty of a 3,500 square foot home with 10 foot ceilings (vs. 8' or lower) is that it really is bigger -- but the property taxes are the same, because the home's "footprint" is unchanged.

--"Don't call it a basement." No, it's not a basement -- it's a "(well) finished lower level." Higher ceilings are showing up there, too, and make a huge difference in how the space looks and feels.

So do lower level heated floors; oversized, flat-panel TV's (now de rigueur for high-end lower levels); lots of recessed lighting; and egress windows (I recently saw a lower level Bedroom with not one but two egress windows; the effect was stunning).

In fact, the only thing you won't find in these deluxe lower levels is the laundry: that's moved upstairs, to the first floor (or even the 2nd).

--More and bigger windows. Beside higher ceilings, the other way to make a smaller home feel bigger are more windows. The higher end, new construction I've seen the last year or so seem to have large, custom windows everywhere (energy efficient, double-pane, low-e -- of course).

--"The Great Kitchen": as I've posted previously, the pendulum is swinging back from completely opened-up "Great Rooms" to a hybrid I like to call "the Great Kitchen": basically, a combination Kitchen - Family Room.

The (formal) Living Room and Dining Room are still there, just smaller.

Same Footprint, More Square Feet -- part 2.

Of course, the other way to squeeze more finished square feet under the same roof is to tackle the space . . . under the roof.

A homeowner in my neighborhood just added dormers to their third level, presumably adding another 1,000 square feet-plus of finished space (I haven't seen the inside).

Besides the extra space, the dormers give the home another great amenity: views of Cedar Lake!