When a development provides 'no amenities,' use a positive spin

It makes sense that real estate would be booming in a city that never sleeps – NYC.

Believe it or not, some experts say those insane housing prices in New York City are a bargain.

Sure, they are high, but they are not hysterically high like in Tokyo or London or Paris.

There are other factors causing the boom – super low interest rates in the US, inquiries from overseas investors and a scramble by Wall Street wonders who now apparently have more faith in real estate than in the stocks they sell.

This has caused some interesting trends, including a rush to buy now before someone else grabs it and to buy pre-construction before it’s built (tulip mania anyone?)

But there’s another trend that caught our eye – don’t count on amenities. Builders are scaling back on rooftop pools, bars, gyms, etc.  In this economy, high-rises are getting mean and lean. Extravagance went out the window years ago.

Now some real estate professionals will definitely see this as a downer. There’s no sizzle on this steak. No fun in the sun.

“Buyers today are more practical and are looking for value,” said Stephen Kliegerman, with Halstead Property Development Marketing.

As Jimmy Stewart would say on his way to Washington, “Now you just wait a darn minute there mister.”

Who wants to sell nothing more than a giant steel and concrete box? A very expensive concrete box at that.

Savvy brokers and agents can turn this around with a tool like SpatialMatch, the lifestyle search engine combined with a robust IDX.

SpatialMatch has an enormous database of millions of businesses. You can designate any business in relation to distance away from any property.

You can easily illustrate these businesses on a colorful map, surrounded by icons for Homes (IDX), Lifestyle, Value, Areas, Favorites, and Alerts.

So, Mr. Buyer likes to swim, we’ll find a pool so close to the property, he can practically walk there in his bathrobe.

Mrs. Buyer likes to go to the gym twice a week. Well, we don’t have a gym in the building. (That’s actually a plus, Mrs. Buyer, since you don’t have to pay for it in your common area fees for ALL the other days you and your fellow condo owners are not there.)

But look here Mrs. Buyer, there are a few quality gyms nearby. You can walk to them in your sneakers and start working out before you even break a sweat getting there.

(See our example of Fitness Centers in mid-Manhattan below).

You don’t have to be in NYC to provide this information to buyers. Or show sellers how you will use it to market their property. You can do it in Peoria as well.

You can make any property more desirable. You can add amenities to any location. With SpatialMatch, you can put that sizzle on any steak.

To read the article about the boom in NYC, click here.

To test drive the SpatialMatch lifestyle search engine in action, click here.