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Q & A with Gary DePersia
Gary DePersia
It’s been a tough year for Hamptons real estate. Average sales prices for homes in the Hamptons and the North Fork plummeted 26.8 percent in the third quarter from the same period last year, according to a market report by Prudential Douglas Elliman.Yet, since August, East Hampton-based Gary DePersia, an associate broker and senior vice president at the Corcoran Group, said he has seen nearly $30 million worth of exclusive listings go into contract.With $202 million in sales volume this year, DePersia was recently named the nation’s fourth top broker in the “The Real Estate Top 200,” a national ranking and awards event sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, Real Trends and Lore Magazine. A 13-year real estate veteran, DePersia moved to East Hampton from New York City in 1995.
The Real Deal spoke with DePersia to find out how he’s beating the odds.
see complete Q&A here
| Updated: December 02, 2008 6:03pm |
Gotthelf To Pursue Lawsuit Over Rivercatwalk Development Delays
Andrea Aurichio
Gotthelf contends town planners have favored the Riverside Hamlet project over her project and waived requirements for traffic studies, environmental impact statements and financial analysis in its review, while forcing her to comply with a host of regulations that have delayed her proposal. “They want to wear me down to either kill the project or force a sale to another developer,” Gotthelf asserted. According to Gotthelf the application process has cost over $1 million to date
see complete story by clicking the story title above or by clicking here
Wall Street crisis reaches Hamptons
By Candace Taylor
As the chaos on Wall Street has unfolded in recent weeks, observers have waited for the Manhattan real estate market, with its close ties to the financial sector, to show signs of a slowdown. But it’s the East End where the Wall Street meltdown has led to immediate aftershocks, brokers say.
Sales activity in the Hamptons — the popular weekend destination for Wall Street tycoons — has all but stopped, prices have plunged and deals are disintegrating, brokers on the East End said.
“We’re so Wall Street-focused out here,” said Michael Daly, principal broker at True North Realty Associates. “In the past week, it’s like everyone is holding their breath.”
Fashion designer Adrienne Vittadini’s five-bedroom waterfront home in Water Mill, listed with Sotheby’s International Realty, was recently reduced from $6.95 million to $6.495 million, down more than $1 million from its original listing price of $7.6 million, according to an Internet-based listings exchange system. An eight-bedroom home on Parsonage Lane in Sagaponack, originally listed at $9.995 million, is now $8.495 million, while a Bay Avenue home in Water Mill first priced at $4.995 million now is available for $3.995 million.
Judi Desiderio, CEO of Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton, said in the past 10 days, nearly half of the company’s deals have fallen through or been negotiated at the closing table, while sales prices on many properties have been rolled back an average of 20 percent.
Desiderio attributes the slowdown to the Hamptons’ popularity as a second-home spot for Wall Streeters.
“I’ve always said that there’s an umbilical cord between the Hamptons and Wall Street,” she said. “They get a tummy ache — we have to lie down to feel better.”
“We’re the luxury items,” Desiderio said. “We’re like buying a bigger boat — you only buy it when you need it or you can afford it.”
Before stocks rallied Friday, the S&P 500 had fallen for seven straight days, its longest losing streak since 1996. The declines pushed the S&P 500 down more than 40 percent from its peak last October.
In the past week, Hamptons brokers have seen phones stop ringing, e-mail inboxes sit empty and the flow of visitors at sales offices slow to a trickle, according to Robert Murray, a broker in the Corcoran Group’s Westhampton office.
“Everything’s come to a halt,” Murray said, adding that plunging stock prices have “basically killed any activity. We’re in a holding pattern.”
He said the few calls he’s received this week are from “bottom fishers:” buyers looking for firesale prices. “I’ve gotten calls from people saying, ‘what’s the best bargain out there?'” Murray said.
Despite the perception that good prices are available, many buyers are afraid to act because they’re waiting for the market to bottom out, said Daly of True North Realty, and author of the Hamptons Real Estate Blog.
“Anyone who is in the process of negotiating or moving on a property just appears to be taking a let’s-wait-and-see attitude,” he said. “When we do see a bottom, we’ll see some good activity.”
HSBC Paves a Path in Loan Crisis, The Wall Street Journal – HSBC was one of the first big banks to signal a subprime-mortgage meltdown. Now, the bank’s struggles show the next stage of the crisis: aiding borrowers.
Realogy Now on Endangered List UrbanDigs.com
Posted by Noah Rosenblatt on November 19, 2008 at 9.15 AM
Realogy’s bonds are tumbling, as the company reported about $200Mil in losses over the past 3 quarters. The company is now trying to exchange around $1.1Bln in existing bonds at a discount for new notes, to stave off a potential default. If they are not successful, they could be in violation of the loan’s covenants under the senior secured credit facility.
Group to sue Bulova developers; project stagnates The Southampton PressLast Updated Nov 19, 08 12:58 PM
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FEMA Releases New Flood Maps
By Beth Young The Southampton Press
Nov 18, 08 9:43 AM
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new preliminary flood insurance rate maps for Suffolk County show far fewer houses in the floodplain than when the last maps were completed in 1983—but Southampton Town’s stormwater manager is concerned that they do not take all of the potential flood areas into account
Illegal building must be scaled down
A builder who finished framing a massive house in the Water Mill hills last winter without a building permit may be able to proceed with work if he tears down a portion of the house.
Despite Economy, Boon For Builder
Rumors of Joe Farrell’s demise greatly exaggerated
By Jennifer Landes, The East Hampton Star
Those who would like to think that Joe Farrell, the house builder for celebrities, politicians, and hedge-fund wunderkinds, is doing poorly will have to wait for a different downturn. Indeed, the bills are stacked up on his desk, but they all have checks attached to them, waiting for his signature.
April 20, 2010 UPDATE…
A little known fact is that in mid 2007, Blankfein was in the process of purchasing Old Trees, an estate in Southampton for over of $40M.
Interestingly enough, he backed out of the deal and stayed in his Sagaponack home.
But, guess who stepped in a bought Old Trees a few months later? That’s right – Paulson.
How many degrees of separation? md
June 12,2006 Update – SOLD for $9.5M
One of the most difficult things to do in this market is to figure out where prices (values) are.
Seeing median prices fall to 2005 levels doesn’t necessarily mean that properties should be selling for 2005 prices, although it’s clear that buyers would like to see that, if not 2004 or 2003 values.
So, Paulson buys this house in 2006 for $12.75M and has it offered for $1.02 above that price. The estate areas always hold their values better than other areas, so it makes sens for an offering price…let’s see where it sells…
Paulson Southampton House
John Paulson in Southampton, Estate of the Day
Paulson bought the home for $12.75 million in 2006 so when he put it on the market in April he priced it at $19.5 million, anticipating a tidy profit. No takers so in late August he dropped the price to $16.9 million. In October he finally got a nibble but he had a buyer with a signed contract walk away from the deal. Paulson really needs to unload this puppy so now it is down to $13.9 million which means he resigned himself to not making a huge profit on the sale.
See whole post here
It’s great to see more and more people “get” the fact that buyers need/deserve representation in the real estate transaction.
“Corcoran was following in the footsteps of Re/Max Beach Properties in Southamption, which was shuttered in July, after two years in operation.
But here’s the counterintuitive part: the Re/Max Beach chief, Michael Daly, didn’t cave in; he changed tactics, opening a buyers’ agency, True North Realty Associates, in North Haven.
“Nearly 98 percent of real estate agents in New York only represent the seller,” even if they are taking the buyer on tour to see properties, he said. “Those buyers are now looking for representation in the transaction.”
U.S. Steps Up Help for Homeowners WSJournal
Acting on homebuyers’ behalf 27East.com
Penny Charges Over Clearing Damaged Dune System; Lobbies For Reconstruction And Fines Hamptons.com
U.K. Homeowners Hit by Downturn WSJournal
Venture Investors Bet $250 Million On Vacation-Rental Site HomeAway WSJournal
Harry Hurt Dumpster Dives
Sag Harbor, NY resident Harry Hurt writes books, stories and the Executive Pursuits column for The New York Times. Much thanks to Harry for sharing on this personal level. See the entire piece after the quote.
“I happened to be in the throes of a divorce, the marital equivalent of foreclosure. Although I had accepted an all-cash offer for the house from an ostensibly wealthy couple, the buyers had recently postponed the closing date to get the money to complete the purchase by selling some stock. Given the downward trend in the Dow Jones industrial average, I was starting to worry that the sale might fall through.
The prospect was chilling. If I was unable to find another buyer or a year-round renter, my house might end up in foreclosure. And I had already signed a one-year lease on a two-bedroom walk-up apartment near the center of the village, which meant there was no turning back on my move out of Chateau Bow Wow.”
Executive Pursuits
After a Life-Altering Event, Cleaning Out and Moving On
Edgar Bronfman Page Six
Edgar Bronfman has great Real Estate Karma. He buys and sells homes in manhattan and ther hamptons, usually making a killing.
He sold his townhouse in Manhattan for $50 Million, making it the highest priced sale in New York…
In January 2006, he paid $31 million for a Bridgehampton estate and an adjacent lot owned by coffee importer Rainer Schoenbach. , which is certainly worth more than he paid for it today.
But, even the best don’t always make a killing…
Here’s a post that makes some good points about the Hamptons Market
| The Hamptons – A Buyers Market Cliffeton Green and Drew Green |
“Obviously, the current world financial atmosphere has everyone very concerned about their financial well-being. We now know that it is the sub-prime mortgage crisis that was a primary cause for the current economic uncertainty. Subsequently, Wall Street has seen a meltdown with the loss of some of the industries oldest and most respected names. In turn, Main Street has been affected. It sounds like the sky is falling – yes? Not necessarily, the answer is that for “some” these are indeed hard times, but for others the current economic atmosphere presents opportunity!
As of Friday, Oct. 10 the Dow Industrial dropped below 8,000 (roughly 40 percent lower than its all time high, which was slightly above 14,000 a year ago). Of course, unlike Wall Street, a minute by minute measuring of the real estate market is not possible. However, we do know that on average prices are down roughly 20 percent in the Hamptons from their all time highs of a year or two ago.
Many experts are suggesting that we are at or near the bottom of the market on Wall Street and that there are now good buys to be made. The same can be said for real estate. Frankly speaking, Wall Street influences the Hamptons real estate market more than any other outside influence, and if Wall Street is indeed at its bottom, the Hamptons real estate market cannot be far behind. Simply put, we are now in a “buyers market” and the time is now for those of you who have been looking for the opportunity to get “a deal” (how many of you have uttered those words to us over the past 15 years). If there was a home that intrigued you recently, “make an offer” even if it might be perceived as being a low offer. This is even more relevant today. Some owners are more anxious than their asking price would suggest.
If you are a seller in this market, you need to seriously evaluate your reasons for wanting to sell. The current atmosphere is obviously not conducive to garnering the same return it might have a year or two ago and you must be prepared to accept that. Experts suggest that home sellers need to assess the prices of similar properties on the market and then price their home 10 percent to 15 percent below the competition (if you “really want to sell”).
If you are a buyer and in need of financing, completing a savvy real estate purchase is difficult, but not impossible. In speaking with many mortgage brokers over the past few weeks, each has suggested mortgage applicants need three things currently – an “excellent” credit rating, proof of income over the past several years, and, probably most important, the ability to make a large down payment on the purchase (25 percent to 30 percent). If you are in this position and have been considering a Hamptons real estate purchase, “NOW” is the time you have been waiting for! Currently, “cash is king” and if you have it, you are in the driver’s seat.
A trend that we are now seeing more of is “owner financing.” This is advantageous for both buyers and sellers alike. It is advantageous for the buyer who is having difficulty getting a mortgage through the traditional sources. The current advantages for a seller are numerous:
If you are in a strong financial position and are interested in buying Hamptons real estate, don’t wait for someone or something to tell you the bottom has been reached. If you are waiting for that moment, you will miss it. The fact remains that in the long run, real estate always proves to be an excellent long-term investment, especially in the Hamptons. When compared to other investment opportunities, real estate makes sense in uncertain times for the following reasons:
FOR BUYERS LOOKING FOR BUYER REPRESENTATION CLINK THE LINK BELOW
Hamptons Real Estate Blog 