Brick Underground

On one hand, New Yorkers want to put their expensive real estate dollars to work and bring in some extra income in a city that’s notoriously unaffordable. On the other hand, there are claims illegal short term rentals are having a negative impact on the rental market, pushing up prices for tenants and contributing to the city’s affordability crisis. Host Emily Myers is joined by Matt Murphy, executive director of the NYU Furman Center to dig into the details.

A new Bankrate.com report compared data for five categories: affordability, wellness, weather, culture, and crime and found that New York ranks dead last in affordability—the study’s most important metric—and 13th worst in weather. It fared well in culture (7th) and crime (tied for 11th with Massachusetts).

Personal finance website WalletHub just released its report on 2019's Most & Least Energy-Expensive States. New York State is ranked the ninth least energy-expensive in a comparison that looked at electricity, natural gas, motor fuel, and home heating oil. The average New York State monthly energy bill is $284.

A broad new climate plan passed in Albany requires the state to nearly eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, which means New York City buildings will have to phase out oil-burning furnaces.

It’s essential to work with an experienced real estate agent who can identify buildings that are the best fit and position you in the best possible light as a financially responsible buyer and upstanding future neighbor.

“Construction labor alone, for example, is significantly more expensive in Manhattan than Brooklyn or NJ,” says Koda Wang, co-founder of Block Renovation, a New York City design-build startup that uses a pricing algorithm to demystify and simplify bathroom renovations.