An Honest Review of the New York City Real Estate Market

For those that don't know, I have recently assumed additional responsibility for AP Real Estate Investing. I am now not only the CFO and COO (big-time business acronyms), but I am also the Head of New Market Research. What does this mean exactly? It means that eventually AP Real Estate is going to outgrow the confines of the mitten state and need to expand to additional markets in our never-ending quest for global real estate dominance. And I'm the guy that's gonna help us do that.

So what better place to start than the most hustlin, bustlin city in the world? Some call it "The Big Apple". I call it "Opportunity"...

New York, New York

I spent this past weekend touring NYC  in order to gain a deeper understanding of the real estate market in our nation's largest city. Brendan may claim this was a vacation, but what he doesn't know is that I used AP funds to pay for it, so it's technically a business trip. And this is my blog, so I control the narrative.

Now, I've been to plenty of big cities all over the world (not a big deal). But that is just part of the responsibility that comes along with being the Head of New Market Research for a major Real Estate Corporation. None of these cities were quite like New York.

New York was crowded, beautiful, dirty, amazing and expensive all at the same time. There were parts that I hated and parts that I loved. So without further ado, here is an honest review of New York City:

Skyline / Architecture

5 out of 5

The city from a distance was beautiful.  I was blown away by the views.  The city is as wide as it is tall and there was no shortage of new development and construction going on everywhere you looked. Here is some photo evidence (and that's only Manhattan):

Food

4 out of 5

Everyone that knows me knows that I am a big time foodie. Any time I'm traveling I always make it a point to experience the local cuisine. Why? Because, food is awesome. So it came as no surprise that NYC had anything and everything to offer depending on your unique tastes and dining preferences.  Me? I was on a mission to find myself the best slice of pizza in NYC. 

Mission accomplished...

Liveability 

1 out of 5

Now we come to the less favorable aspects of NYC. Traffic was horrendous. Public transit was outdated and difficult to figure out. Cost of living was insane. And there were SO MANY TOURISTS!!! Personally I would never want to live in a city that had that many tourists visiting on a daily basis. It makes it less appealing when over half the people walking the streets on any given day are not actually residents of the city. This may be more of a personal stance, but it's my blog and that's how I feel. Crowds are not my thing.

Cleanliness

0 out of 5

Another tough look for New York... It was by far the dirtiest city I have ever been to. I'm not gonna say all parts of the city are dirty, but a vast majority of the areas I visited were down right disgusting. Piles of trash on the street. Overflowing garbage cans. I saw a rat the size of a gofer on the subway... To summarize, NYC is not winning any cleanliness awards in the near future.

There you go, people. An honest review of the Big Apple. Suffice to say I don't think the AP Boys will be taking up operations in NYC anytime soon, but it's all part of the job.

On to Mexico next week for our first international market.  Stay tuned...

-AA