Searching for Forest Hills Condos With a Pet: Five Tidbits of Advice

You and your partner are moving to Forest Hills, and a condo seems like the perfect fit. Here is a fun twist to the story: Your partner is a four-legged, tail-wagging dog. Will Forest Hills condos love your beloved pet as much as you do?

As more people become pet owners, Forest Hills condos are relaxing strict policies regarding their occupants’ furry companions. If you are looking for a new home with a pet in tow, here are some suggestions for finding one that you’ll both feel comfortable living in:

• “Pets allowed” is OK. “Pet-friendly” is better!
  As you are browsing listings for Forest Hills condos, look for these terms to give you a hint about their view toward pets. “Pets allowed” typically means that the building tolerates pets as long as they don’t create a disturbance. “Pet-friendly” means the same, except the building might feature amenities that cater to your furry friend.
• Location, location, location!
  This age-old real estate declaration is extra-relevant when you are searching for Forest Hills condos with a pet. Your companion needs fresh air and plenty of exercise, so a unit near a park is a plus. You’ll also need to consider the proximity of pet stores and veterinarians, especially if you don’t own a car.
• Safety is critical.
  When Fido needs to go outside, he doesn’t care if it’s the middle of the night. For this reason, you’ll want to select a condo in a neighborhood that you feel comfortable strolling around at all hours.
• Minimize the sounds of the city.
  Loud noises and urban chaos might turn your otherwise calm pet into a bundle of nerves. Avoid units that face a busy street to keep your dog’s volume low.
• Make a list of must-have pet perks.
  Did you know that some Forest Hills condos have dog runs, pet wash areas and other pet-specific amenities? Make a list of your pet-related must-haves to narrow your condo search.

If you are browsing Forest Hills condos for a new home to please you and your pet, contact Forest Hills Realty for a list of pet-friendly options!

Contact us at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.

Forest Hills real estate is always in demand. When people visit Forest Hills for the first time, some are surprised that such a beautiful enclave exists within the urban boundaries of Queens. Many immediately start making plans to become our newest neighbor.

Forest Hills has a range of housing options that will forever change your view of New York City living. From compact co-ops to sprawling single-family residences, your real estate search will take you to some unexpected places in Forest Hills.

Forest Hills Co-ops

When many people think of co-ops, they think of tiny apartment-style homes in old buildings. This idea couldn’t be farther from the truth! If you are browsing Forest Hills co-ops, here are a few examples of what you might see:

• Studio units in charming, prewar-style buildings.
• Units that are spacious enough to fit the family.
• Luxury co-op buildings with every amenity possible. If you want a pool, security system, concierge, fitness room or business center, you’ll find a co-op that grants your wishes!

Forest Hills Condos: A Modern Escape

If you are in the market for a modern condo, Forest Hills real estate can deliver. Cord Meyer, a real estate development company based in Queens, offers two deluxe condominium developments in Forest Hills:

• The Windsor at Forest Hills: Built in 2005, these condos are sleek and stylish. High ceilings, modern appliances and oversized windows are the perfect examples of modern living.
• The Aston: Amenities abound at The Aston. With a doorman, fitness center and an outdoor entertaining area on the property, you’ll feel right at home.

Newly-constructed condos are also available in Forest Hills! Contact us for details.

Single-Family Homes in the City

You can still experience the privacy and space of a single-family home without sacrificing the city life in Forest Hills! This Queens community is well-known for its selection of single-family homes, many of which are still a short walk away from transit to Manhattan.

Contact Us Today

If you are interested in Forest Hills real estate, Contact us to start your search in this dynamic market!

Call us at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.

When you decide to sell your co-op, you probably want it to sell quickly, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have listed it. You also want top dollar for this property that’s served you well. It doesn’t make sense to give it away!

What makes some Forest Hills co-ops appealing while others wear out their welcome on the real estate market? How do some sellers squeak an extra $10,000 out of their sale while others don’t approach their asking price? There are a lot of reasons for these situations. Today we’re going to focus on one: staging.

When it comes to staging your home to sell, you have options. You can hire a professional, or you can DIY. If you hire a professional, particularly one specializing in Forest Hills co-ops, you won’t have to worry about a thing. Unfortunately, a professional home stager might not be in your budget.

Let’s chat about DIY home staging. Deep cleaning your home, packing up your personal items and eliminating unpleasant odors are common staging suggestions. Here are three more ideas that are specific to Forest Hills co-ops:

• Make your co-op look larger.
  Anything you can do to maximize space is a plus when you are staging a compact co-op. Remove clutter, rearrange furniture or temporarily put a few items in storage to open up your area.
• Turn on the lights.
  We know how buyers love natural light! Unfortunately, some Forest Hills co-ops don’t have much of it. If your unit is on the dark side, make sure it’s well-illuminated with other lighting sources. Don’t forget to flip the lights on before a buyer takes a tour of your home!
• Showcase your storage areas.
  Storage space is hard to come by in an urban co-op. Remove unnecessary items from your closets, cabinets and cubbies to make it look like you have the most storage space in the building!

At Forest Hills Realty , we know plenty of buyers who are in the market for Forest Hills co-ops! Get in touch with us today to learn more about listing your co-op for a successful sale.

Call us at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.

If you are checking out Forest Hills homes for sale, you’re probably familiar with bidding wars. Hopefully, your real estate agent has prepared you for this possibility. Perhaps you’ve even been wrapped up in one! Unfortunately, since you’ve landed here, we’re guessing that you probably haven’t come out victorious.

Not to worry! We’re not strangers to bidding wars either. The next time you’re in a hot competition for the best home on the block, we want it to be yours! Here are a few of our favorite tips for winning bidding wars for Forest Hills homes for sale:

• Get a mortgage preapproval.
  If you enter the real estate market with a mortgage preapproval in hand, you are leaps and bounds ahead of buyers who haven’t taken this step. A mortgage preapproval shows sellers that you’re a “sure thing” and that you are in a solid financial position to purchase their property.
• Use an escalation clause.
  An escalation clause states that you will outbid any offers on a particular property by a certain amount, escalating to the upper limit of your budget. Here’s what it looks like: If you are interested in a home that is listed at $500,000, you might offer $510,000. If your budget caps out at $530,000, your escalation clause might state that you will automatically outbid any competing offers by $5,000, with a maximum amount of $530,000.
• Make a cash offer.
  This won’t work for everyone, but if you have the means, go for it. Money talks when it comes to Forest Hills homes for sale, and a cash offer will probably get your bid noticed by the seller.
• Eliminate contingencies.
  Contingencies are a common part of real estate offers, but they can also make a sale go awry. If possible, go into your home purchase with a no-strings-attached approach to increase the seller’s confidence in your offer.

Forest Hills homes for sale are catching everyone’s eye, and this extra attention is here to stay! Contact Forest Hills Realty  today to learn how to succeed in a competitive real estate market.

Call us at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.

Renting has gotten a bad rap over the years. If you’re checking out Forest Hills apartment rentals, well-meaning friends and family might tell you that you’re throwing money away. They might say that you will be paying top dollar without anything to show for it. The list goes on!

If renting is that bad, why do so many people do it? Renting comes with its own set of benefits, and Forest Hills apartment rentals are a smart choice for the right person. Before you dismiss the idea, let’s review some of the advantages of renting.

You’re not tied down by your investment.

A typical lease term is one year. After your lease is up, you have choices. If you fell in love with your apartment, you can stay. If you love the location but not the digs, you can move down the block. If you despised everything about the past year, you can make a major change!

You won’t need a ton of cash up front.

If you are vying for Forest Hills apartment rentals, you’ll need to come up with enough funds to cover your first month’s rent and the security deposit. This is far less than the down payment and closing costs you would need to purchase a home. If you don’t have a bulky bank account, renting might be wise until you gather some savings.

Maintenance and repair costs are covered.

If the furnace goes out on the coldest day that Queens has seen in decades, your landlord will handle the pricey fix. Your rent also includes landscaping and common-area maintenance. One important note: If you cause damage to your unit beyond normal wear and tear, you will be responsible for the repair.

You’ll have access to building amenities.

If you are looking for a pool, exercise room or security system, you might find them in Forest Hills apartment rentals. The best part: Your monthly rent payment usually covers building amenities.

Forest Hills apartment rentals are worth a look! Contact Forest Hills Realty today to view available listings.

Call us at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.

If you are looking to sell in Forest Hills, you’ve probably already had the jitters over listing your home. You’ve heard the horror stories. So much can go wrong! It’s enough to make you scrap the whole idea of selling.

Before you do anything drastic, remember this: Just because one real estate transaction falls through, it doesn’t mean the next one will do the same!

What makes a sale go south? We don’t like to focus on the negative, but we believe that the best way to beat seller anxiety is to prepare for snags in the process. Here are four reasons why some sales don’t work out:

• The inspection reveals major issues with the home that weren’t disclosed to the buyer.
  As the seller, the solution to this problem is simple: Disclose your home’s flaws to the buyer ahead of time. Price your home accordingly, and be willing to negotiate with the buyer to keep your sale on track.
• The buyer runs into financing issues. If you are looking to sell in Forest Hills, favor buyers who have been preapproved for a mortgage. Although the final mortgage approval could still fall through, that is less likely to happen with preapproved buyers.
• The home appraises for less than its list price.  Lenders will only allow buyers to borrow up to the appraisal amount. If the home appraises for less than the list price, the buyer needs to come up with the difference. If you are set on selling quickly, you might need to lower the price tag to make it happen. You can also request a second appraisal to see if it produces more favorable results.
• The buyer gets cold feet.
  If you are looking to sell in Forest Hills, there isn’t much you can do about this pitfall. Try to seek out confident buyers rather than wishy-washy ones, remembering that even the most confident buyers can get nervous when thousands of dollars are on the table.

We welcome clients who are looking to sell in Forest Hills! Contact us today to learn more about listing your home for success.

Call us at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.

It’s incredible the difference a year makes. In early 2020, the Forest Hills real estate market was prepping for success. After COVID-19 reared its ugly head, our future suddenly became unclear.

In the past year, the Forest Hills real estate market has made remarkable progress. Think about it: One year ago, NOTHING was happening in the real estate realm. Agents were assisting clients with pressing needs, juggling new technology and wondering if they would ever see their clients face-to-face again.

OK, maybe it’s not fair to say that NOTHING was happening. Significant events must have occurred to see the real estate industry bounce back to its current levels. Is it the same as pre-COVID? Of course not, but the Forest Hills real estate market has weathered the storm with extraordinary resilience.

Today we are going to share three real estate trends that illustrate this resilience. Who knows? After reading this, you might decide to dust off your pre-COVID plans to enter the Forest Hills real estate market!

• Queens maintained the highest level of residential sales activity compared to other New York City boroughs throughout the pandemic.
  Forest Hills hasn’t lost its charm, which is good news for buyers and sellers alike!
• The median sale price for homes in Queens has hovered right around $640,000 since November 2020 (except for January, when the median sale price was $614,000).
  This number doesn’t mean much on its own. What if we tell you that this brings the median sale price up to $600,000 for the first year of the pandemic, which is a 9% increase over the preceding year? Not a terrible statistic for sellers, is it?
• Queens is a buyer’s market.
  Although the median sale price of Queens real estate has increased, it is still considered a buyer’s market. There are currently more sellers than buyers in the Forest Hills real estate market.

If you want to get your feet wet in the Forest Hills real estate market, get in touch with Forest Hills Realty today to get started!

Contact us today at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.

If Forest Hills condos are on your radar this spring, there is one “special” thing to consider. Before you snag or sell a condo, you’ll need to be well-informed about special assessments.

Maybe you’ve heard murmurs about special assessments but never really paid attention because they didn’t apply to you. Perhaps this is all new information! In any case, we are going to clear your confusion about special assessments in Forest Hills condos. Most importantly, we will explain how these charges might impact your real estate transaction.

What Is a Special Assessment?

A special assessment is an amount of money billed to HOA members for large-scale or unexpected repairs or renovations. In some cases, a special assessment is used to bulk up an underfunded reserve account.

Needless to say, special assessments elicit grumbles and groans from HOA members. While you can protest a special assessment, your objections won’t hold much weight if the assessment is intended for a project that maintains residents’ health and safety.

How Does a Special Assessment Affect a Real Estate Transaction?

If you are buying or selling a condo that has a special assessment on the horizon, there are a few things you should know. Here are the biggies:

• If you are listing a condo in a building with an upcoming special assessment, you must disclose this to potential buyers.
• Whether you are buying or selling a condo with an impending special assessment, you’ll need to negotiate who pays.
• If one of the Forest Hills condos you are interested in has a special assessment, review the HOAs financial history to see if this is a common occurrence.
• Some special assessments are tacked on to the monthly HOA fee until the cost is paid. Others are a lump-sum payment. If you are purchasing Forest Hills condos, find out how their HOAs manage special assessments.

Special assessments are worth considering, but they are not a deal-breaker in your real estate transaction! If you are thinking about buying or selling Forest Hills condos, connect with Forest Hills Realty today to learn more.

Contact us today at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.

It’s no secret that pursuing Forest Hills co-ops is a little intimidating. In addition to the typical stressors that home buyers face, co-ops require potential buyers to complete a board package.

Co-op boards need to make sure that potential buyers can hack the financial commitments of living in the building. They also want their building to be a pleasant place for their residents to hang their hats. This is where the board package comes into play.

A board package is more than a few pieces of paperwork stuffed into a folder. They get pretty in-depth, asking for financial information, personal references and the like.

Don’t let the board package scare you away! Prepare your application for Forest Hills co-ops one step at a time using these four tips for success:

• Draft an intro letter.
  Think back to the last time you submitted a résumé for a job. You probably included a cover letter, didn’t you? An intro letter is the same thing. Kick your board package off with a short note telling the board who you are and what you love about the co-op. While you’re at it, include a summary of your most significant financial information so that the board doesn’t have to dig through your package to learn the basics.
• Be organized.
  Organizing your board package for Forest Hills co-ops is half the battle. Co-op boards appreciate applications that include a table of contents. Use tabbed dividers and color-code your application sections for easy navigation through the pile of paperwork.
• Neatness counts!
  If the co-op board can’t read your board package, they will probably move on to the next applicant. Fortunately, this is an easy fix. Type your application to keep it in the running.
• Don’t leave any blank spaces.
  Blank spaces indicate that you have something to hide. If you must leave a blank, include an explanation and be ready to address the issue at your board interview.

Forest Hills co-ops are worth the effort! Get in touch with Forest Hills Realty today to learn more about this real estate opportunity.

Contact us today at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.

Embarking on your journey for Forest Hills homes for sale is an exciting time. Making your wish list, browsing current listings and going on in-person tours are the fun parts. Getting approved for a loan, understanding mortgages and deciphering the mountains of paperwork you will see along the way are not-so-fun.

Even the not-so-fun parts of buying a home are manageable if you understand what’s going on. Before you browse Forest Hills homes for sale, take the time to learn the lingo. If you are familiar with a handful of real estate terms, you’ll be better equipped to make a decision.

Let’s get started! Here are four mortgage-related terms that you are bound to see along the way:

Prequalification
A mortgage prequalification is a rough estimate of how much money a buyer might be able to borrow to purchase a home. Lenders don’t dig deep into your financial history to arrive at this figure. It is based on self-reported information, so it doesn’t hold much weight in the buying process.

Preapproval
A mortgage preapproval is the exact amount of money that a buyer can borrow to purchase a home. It requires a thorough review of the buyer’s financial information. If you get a mortgage preapproval before you start looking for Forest Hills homes for sale, you’ll have an advantage over unprepared buyers.

Fixed-rate mortgage
In a fixed-rate mortgage, your interest rate stays the same throughout the loan. Although you won’t need to worry about skyrocketing interest rates, you won’t be able to take advantage of rate plummets unless you refinance.

Adjustable-rate mortgage
In an adjustable-rate mortgage, the interest rate varies within a specific range throughout the loan. Although an adjustable-rate mortgage isn’t as predictable as its fixed-rate relative, borrowers might reap the rewards of low interest rates during certain periods.

We hope that this quick vocabulary lesson has given you enough know-how to get your feet wet in the real estate market. If you are interested in Forest Hills homes for sale, contact Forest Hills Realty to start your journey!

Contact us today at (718) 997-6000 or email us here for more information.