Pbenjay's Blog

Hey everybody knows that the First Rule of Real Estate is Location, location, location.  Or is it?  Maybe location is reality based in  one’s own perception.   I sell real estate in Manhattan, I know it’s expensive;  I think everyone knows it’s expensive or if they didn’t believe it, when they got here and tried to rent an apartment they quickly understood the Manhattan Mantra:  “Yes, but real estate in Manhattan is different from the rest of the country”.

This is the answer given to the transferee who is vacating his 8 room Colonial in Ohio and is trying to find a 3 Bedroom apartment  at about the same price he sold his house – $895K – NOT!  Or to the recently-graduated-new-hire to the financial world and is told that in order to rent a 400 sq.’ Studio (about the size of a dorm room) for a meager $2000 a month, he would have to earn $90K per year and that’s more money than his father ever made!  Oh, in that case, maybe he could get his parents to be guarantors;   If they don’t live in the try-state area, NOT!  Do your parents make at least $160K? No? Then NOT!

So yes Manhattan real estate is different from the rest of the country and also the rest of the world!  Check out these comparisons.  They’re supposed to be funny although I guess that might depend on what zip code you live in or want to live in!

$1,621,200

This 13,993 square-foot, 6-bedroom castle sits on 24 acres of land overlooking the countryside of Midi Pyrenees. Features include a large entrance hall opening to the courtyard, salon with a fireplace, grand staircase, elevator, large dining room with fireplace, two kitchens, a bedroom wing with a hall onto the courtyard, study rooms in the towers, two garages, and access to the chapel and east wing.

$1,650,000

Here’s a 1-bed, 1.5-bath 1,200-square-foot apartment on E. 30th St. It’s conveniently located near nothing interesting.

$2,325,956

Chateau Blavou is a 10-bedroom, 8-bathroom castle set in a peaceful 27-acre section in Normandy. This property comes complete with a vaulted cellar, a dining room that seats 60+ guests, a cellar/bar area with access to the garden, a wine cellar, food preparation room, two greenhouses, a caretaker’s house, a guest house, and a function room that seats 210 people.

Potential Backyard

$2,550,000

The ad from Craigslist says that this 4-bed townhouse in Williamsburg Brooklyn has the “potential” for a backyard.

There were MORE of these worldly comparatively-priced properties on the web site Buzz Feed Community. Check it out – I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or move to Europe!  Thanks to my friend, Helen who sent me the Buzz Feed Community post.