From the January issue: Winter is usually the slowest time of year for Manhattan real estate sales. This season, however, the continued strength of the luxury market — paired with the pending change in tax rates for capital gains — prompted a spike in sales activity. In the fourth quarter of 2012, there were 2,598 closed sales in Manhattan, according to Douglas Elliman’s latest market report, which was prepared by appraisal firm Miller Samuel. That’s up a dramatic 29.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011. Listing inventory, meanwhile, plummeted 34.2 percent to 4,749 from 7,221 at the same time last year. [more]

Pre-qualifying customers is no small task for residential brokers, but avoiding an awkward conversation about finances can lead to disaster, according to Halstead Property sales and rental agent Michael Rovner, who wrote about the importance of a fiscal review between broker and client in the Post. While asking a buyer what he can afford could lead to an ego deflation, many co-ops and condos have increasingly rigorous restrictions for real estate shoppers, Rovner said. “Some buildings don’t allow mortgages, and others require owners to have two to three times the purchase price in cash after closing,” Rovner said of some co-op boards. [Post]

Elizabeth Stribling

Residential brokerage Stribling & Associates has joined forces with London-based real estate services company Savills, forming a professional association, according to Stribling representatives. The association is meant to help Stribling’s “client’s homes reach the widest possible market,” according to founder Elizabeth Stribling, while giving Savils an entree into the U.S. market. Attorneys Jay Neveloff and Steve Senir of Levin Naftalis & Frankel represented Stribling in the formation of the association. As The Real Deal previously reported, Stribling has also recently expanded its grasp to Italy, taking on listings in Tuscany and beyond. TRD

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Elizabeth Stribling

Residential brokerage Stribling & Associates has joined forces with London-based real estate services company Savills, forming a professional association, according to Stribling representatives. The association is meant to help Stribling’s “client’s homes reach the widest possible market,” according to founder Elizabeth Stribling, while giving Savils an entree into the U.S. market. Attorneys Jay Neveloff and Steve Senir of Levin Naftalis & Frankel represented Stribling in the formation of the association. As The Real Deal previously reported, Stribling has also recently expanded its grasp to Italy, taking on listings in Tuscany and beyond. TRD

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Douglas Wagner, president and general manager at Benjamin James Real Estate, has left the shrinking company for a position at brokerage Bond New York. Wagner became executive managing director of sales at Bond just over a week ago, according to Bruno Ricciotti, a principal at Bond, and will manage sales and rentals at the company’s 45-agent Upper East Side office at 1500 Second Avenue between 78th and 79th streets. Ricciotti said Bond and Benjamin James have often worked on rental deals together. Wagner’s departure raises questions about the future of Benjamin James,
which has lost market share during the recession. James Benjamin Ferrari founded the
firm in 1993, but in recent years left the company almost entirely in
Wagner’s hands.
Ferrari was not available for comment by press time.
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Cockroaches, rats and other critters are a common (and gross) inconvenience for New Yorkers of all ilks. But the bedbug has a unique ability to spread panic among apartment dwellers. Those afflicted with a bedbug infestation often shell out thousands of dollars to kill the bugs and, in some cases, throw out furniture just to be rid of the tiny-legged plague, the New York Times said, which is why assessing a building and a unit’s propensity for bedbugs — with experts or even specially trained dogs — has become a central part of buying a home in the city. If a new residence has a past problem with bedbug infestations that can, in some cases, kill a deal, Steven Sladkus, a real estate lawyer with Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, said. “It’s like the dreaded mold that was killing values for a while,” Sladkus said. “People don’t want to buy into a building if they find out there are bedbugs.”