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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/realestate/when-new-york-kids-help-find-the-family-home.html
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A year and a half ago, Skye van Merkensteijn was shooting hoops with a friend who lives at the Aldyn, a condominium-rental hybrid on Riverside Boulevard with its own indoor basketball court, climbing wall and bowling alley.
Thirteen-year-old Skye was impressed and envious. Well, his worldly pal told him, he just happened to know of an apartment for sale on the 21st floor.
Skye went home, jumped online and called up a video of the property in question a 12-room spread with a hot tub and private 37-by-15-foot outdoor pool.
When my husband, John, came home, said Skyes mother, Elizabeth van Merkensteijn, Skye announced: Were moving and this is the place were moving to.
Mr. van Merkensteijn, an investor, told his son he couldnt afford a $14 million apartment. As for Mrs. van Merkensteijn, if you wanted her to leave the familys eight-room apartment at the Beresford on Central Park West, she said, you were going to have to carry her out. In a box.
Still, for a lark the couple strolled over to check out their sons find, which, in addition to the pool and an expansive terrace, had bedazzling views of the Hudson and the Palisades. We looked at each other and said, This is unbelievable, Mrs. van Merkensteijn recalled. The idea that you could own a place like this in New York City was amazing.
Skye came along to the closing a few months later.
In New York, teens and preteens are becoming savvy connoisseurs of real estate.
Perhaps its because theyre so utterly at home on the Internet. Perhaps its because theyre lured by online images of condo amenities like an indoor pool or a childrens playroom or because theyre fans of Million Dollar Listing New York on Bravo. Or maybe its because its become business as usual for children in certain precincts of Manhattan to participate in family decisions.
They choose where they and their parents are going to have dinner or where theyre going to go on vacation, said Stuart Moss, an associate broker at Corcoran. So why shouldnt it extend to where theyre going to spend several million dollars for a residence?
Bonnie Hut Yaseen, an associate broker at Fox Residential, is used to the youth vote by now. Im seeing this trend where parents are coming in to look at my listings and proudly announcing that it was their son or daughter who found it, she said. Theyre finding an unexpected resource in their children.
Ms. Yaseen said that in the past children saw their homes-to-be only when it was time for the parents to assign them their bedrooms. Now, in some cases, the kids are coming on the first visit to an apartment because they want to know if its as good in reality as it looked online, she said. Theyll sometimes be there with paperwork, with a printout from a website.
Their knowledge can be quite granular. We had one teenager who knew the specifics of our floor plans. He knew that the C line apartments are 2,296 square feet and that the L units are 2,277, said Justin DAdamo, the managing director of Corcoran Sunshine, the marketing and sales team for River & Warren, a condominium development in Battery Park City. He told his mother that the C line would be better because of his baby grand piano.
Ultimately, he and his Steinway carried the day.
When Yovanka Bylander Arroyo, a widow with two children, began going to open houses, it was her son, Alexandre, 10, an HGTV and Zillow fan, who asked about square footage and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. And I was like, Gee, I dont know, said Ms. Arroyo, the executive director of a financial services firm. Maybe I should be going on Zillow.
Pattys frequent visits to the sites StreetEasy, Trulia and Zillow led her to Carnegie Park, a condominium on Third and 94th. We looked at it and are still seriously considering it, Mrs. Haggerty said; they are also mulling over 515 East 72nd Street, another condominium.
I feel Ive been a big contribution to the process, said Patty, whose wish list includes a view of Central Park.
Continue reading the main story
Michael Schultz, an associate broker with Corcoran, affectionately refers to 15-year-old Max Srulowitz as the president. Thats because last year, when Maxs parents, Jeffrey and Jennifer Srulowitz, were looking for a summer rental in East Hampton, N.Y., Max went online and found some prospects that had eluded Mr. Schultz, including the winning property.
Now, the Srulowitzes are hoping to buy in East Hampton, and once again, Max is playing a key role. Mr. Schultz even includes him in the emails he sends to Mr. and Ms. Srulowitz. When I get listings, Ms. Srulowitz said, I print them out and before I show them to my husband, Ill show Max. I take pride in his acumen, and hes very mature.
All this speaks to the evolving parent-child dynamic, according to Dr. Gail Saltz, a psychiatrist. I think particularly in affluent areas, theres now less of a separation in terms of what children are privy to and what privileges they get to have, she said. These parents arent saying: We need to move and its your responsibility to find us a place. This is about children being helpful in ways that are fun for them.
Would it be more helpful for them to take out the garbage? Dr. Saltz asked. Maybe, but its not as much fun. And of course its easy for them because theyre Internet savvy, she continued. And I think its fun for some parents to feel that their child is their friend: Oh, you found that great apartment. Thats cool.
I had clients who were looking at places that were under $3 million, and their daughter, a high school junior, went online and found a visually stunning place on the Upper East Side that was $3.5 million, said a broker who requested anonymity so as not to scuttle a deal in progress. She got her parents to go look at it and they loved it so much they decided to raise their price point.
In a few instances, children are doing everything but writing the check. There are international buyers who want to buy a pied-à-terre or want to buy an apartment for investment purposes, but theyre not familiar with the New York market and dont speak English very well, said Bruce Ehrmann, an associate broker with Douglas Elliman Real Estate. They have their children who are in the United States in boarding school or college do their research for them.
Elizabeth van Merkensteijn shrugs off such concerns. You cant hide the ball on these kids, she said. They hear the numbers. We talk about everything in front of everyone. I get it that the air is thin and that its rarefied. But its the reality of New York City.
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