With the Federal Housing Administration struggling to meet its reserve fund regulations, city developers were holding their breath, hoping that the organization, which allows apartment buyers to put as little as 3.5 percent down, would continue to back loans. The organization’s troubles have shed new light on the importance of FHA, which some city developers say has become integral to the financial security of the condo business. “If you asked me about FHA a few years ago, I would have looked at you funny,” David Kramer, principal of the Hudson Companies, the developer of FHA-approved condominium Third + Bond in Carroll Gardens, said. “Now we have gotten involved in making sure that as many financing options as possible are available for buyers, and that is where FHA comes into play.” In the wake of the FHA’s financial woes, regulators have chosen to actually loosen standards, Crain’s reported, with condos needing just 30 percent of units pre-sold, as opposed to 50 percent, to qualify for FHA as of Dec. 7.

It seems like an unlikely scenario: A team of luxury interior stylists decorates your property for free, stuffing it with pricy furnishings, taking professional photos of it and then publishing them in a nationwide magazine. But for the developers of some unsold high-end condo units in New York City, the dream can be reality. Albert Laboz, a principal with United American Land, is one such developer. One of his unsold units at the Soho Mews at 311 West Broadway was photographed for Town & Country magazine, among others, which he let the publication use at no cost. Laboz said that the response from the photo shoot has been noteworthy.” The traffic uptick is tremendous,” Laboz said, noting that this tactic is part of a shifting promotional strategy among developers. “It’s no secret that the market is challenging.” Laboz’s unit is one of at least three homes that has swung its doors wide — and for free — for designers looking to showcase their work on the cheap.

The Forte in Fort Greene

From the October issue: Few buyers who bought fancy condos in the last few years could have
predicted that their building would end up as a poster child for the
failed real estate market in the city. But at some buildings that’s
exactly what’s happened. Satian Pengsathapon, who is 30 and works in the advertising industry,
purchased a unit in the Forté tower partly because he liked that the
well-known architecture firm FXFowle designed the building. And having
gone to school at the nearby Pratt Institute, he was also a fan of the
neighborhood, Fort Greene. “I haven’t had buyer’s remorse,” Pengsathapon said. “If anything, I wonder why people aren’t buying in this building.”

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From the October issue: It’s often said that the devil is in the details — and for many New
York City buyers and sellers, that’s increasingly become the case in
the down market. New development brokers and real estate lawyers say many of the
attempts they are seeing among buyers to get out of contracts are from
those arguing that the measurements on their condos are different from
what they were promised. They say that sometimes buyers will invoke the
claim over a minor quibble, such as small floorplan discrepancies or an
inch or two difference in ceiling height. Meg Goble, a real estate lawyer and a partner at Hanley & Goble,
said buyers must prove that there are “significant and material”
differences between the representation made to the buyer and the
finished product. However, there is little spelling out of exactly what
that means.