Buyer’s Guide to Residential Property Types in NYC

As New Yorkers prepare to purchase an apartment or house, they will encounter a dizzying array of building styles and myriad of real estate jargon.

Housing options are endless in the Big Apple, as New Yorkers can choose between detached single-family houses on tree-lined streets in Queens and gleaming high rises with skyline views across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Buyers can find themselves checking out pre-war buildings featuring high ceilings one day to full-service doorman buildings brimming with amenities the next. 

There is a building style to suit every buyer in the City That Never Sleeps, so the team at Prevu Real Estate compiled a guide explaining the different types of properties buyers will find in NYC. 

Property Types in NYC

• Pre-war co-ops
• Townhouses
• Lofts
• New construction condos
• Luxury re-sale condos
• Single-family houses
• Multi-family houses

Pre-war co-ops

Brick-clad apartment buildings rising stories into the sky define the profile of the pre-war buildings in NYC. 

Generally constructed before World War II, these units feature detailed woodwork, large windows, and ornate plaster fixtures. While some experts argue on exact dates, some attach the term to buildings built as far back as the Spanish American War. These buildings are commonly found throughout Manhattan, specifically on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side.

These historic NYC gems are robust apartments providing owners with a unit featuring a lot of character. Hardy plaster walls and poured concrete floors sit below hardwood floors, creating a quiet respite from neighborly noise common in other apartment styles.

High ceilings and ornate crown moldings circle large rooms laid out to resemble traditional single-family homes. The layout of these units usually features a separated kitchen and dining room, which appeals to some but not all buyers. 

While the charm is appealing, buyers closing on a pre-war unit need to make sure plumbing and electrical facets are up to date, as the costs to update can add up quickly. 

Many pre-war buildings are co-ops, which may be less expensive than a condo, but comes with post-close liquidity requirements and a rigorous board approval process. 

Townhouses

A New Yorker exploring the city streets will find grand old attached townhouses, reminiscent of old New York. Like pre-war buildings, townhouses are commonly found in Manhattan, but buyers can expect to find them throughout neighborhoods in Brooklyn as well. 

Depending on the era of construction, some townhouses are clad with clapboard siding, whereas others feature brick, vinyl, or iconic brownstone appearance. These multi-story, single-family residences sit on sizable plots of land. Developers used the space to create elaborate private entrances on street level out front. Depending on the size of the home, these properties sometimes have personal backyard gardens where residents can relax. 

NYC townhouses have a historic aura prominently displayed through finely crafted crown moldings and carved banisters leading homeowners to the upper levels. These sprawling properties feature eat-in kitchens and separate dining rooms, allowing for easy dinners as well as grand dinner parties. 

But just like pre-war co-ops, buyers must consider the electrical and plumbing systems, as gutting and replacing these functions can run new homeowners thousands of dollars. 

But there are plenty of newly-renovated townhouses on the market, with rebuffed hardwood floors juxtaposed to exposed brick walls decorating portions of the house. These properties bask in natural light, as each room usually has multiple windows per room. 

Lofts

A quintessential apartment-style, lofts have become a New York City staple. Open floor plans connecting living spaces with eating spaces, all awash in light from large windows, characterize NYC loft spaces today. 

Luxury lofts now sit inside of new construction condominiums and offer buyers modern amenities. But buyers that scour the market can still find an original loft from back in the heyday of the artist movements in NYC. 

While these units are popular today, they had humble beginnings in NYC as a haven for the budding artist community in the 1950s and 60s. Artist communities in SoHo, TriBeCa, and DUMBO popularized the style by moving into converted industrial buildings en masse. 

Many early lofts featured a lot of space, access to natural light, and prime positioning in the heart of New York City. But City Hall wanted to raze portions of Manhattan to make room for a Lower Manhattan Expressway connecting the Holland Tunnel to the Williamsburg Bridge. The proposal for LoMEx brought tenants and landlords together, helping to preserve these storied buildings and their iconic apartments. 

Today, lofts are a hot ticket item for buyers, as some lofts occupy an entire floor, providing plenty of open floor plan space for owners to make their own. Plus, depending on the age of the building, residents may have a converted freight elevator that takes them right to their floor.

New construction condos

Modern buyers increasingly want a seamless, turn key move in experience, making new construction units the ideal choice. In recent decades, developers have rolled out state-of-the-art new construction condo buildings, with each successive building offering nicer amenities and better views.

Beyond being equipped with the latest smart-home technology, these buildings offer de facto facets like pools, gyms, and playrooms for kids. Some buildings go over the top and offer movie screening rooms, golf simulators, and even rock-climbing walls for residents to scale. 

There is only so much land in NYC, and when a property owner sells a run-down industrial or residential building, developers will purchase the plots, gather air rights and build. But not all new construction buildings are gleaming high rises with luxurious penthouse apartments towering over the waterfront. 

Buyers can find plenty of new three and four-story boutique condos scattered throughout Queens and Brooklyn, where dated homes once stood. These buildings are sleek, offer modern electrical and plumbing systems, and are move-in ready. 

Many developers use ecologically friendly building materials and strive towards LEEDs-certification. When developers announce the construction of a new building, eager buyers line up to secure luxury units before developers finish construction.  

Luxury re-sale condos 

Scattered throughout New York City are luxury, full-service condo buildings. These staples of New York have uniformed attendants working at the concierge desk, greeting residents, managing packages, and coordinating operations at the building. 

Depending on what amenities a buyer desires, they will want to explore several luxury re-sale condo buildings to weigh what works for them. 

Traditional buildings are usually pre-war cooperative buildings near Park Avenue or the avenues bordering Central Park. Depending on the condominium, some attendants wear dated uniforms complete with white gloves and provide full-service assistance for residents. 

Single-family houses, attached and detached 

When families began moving out of Manhattan in the late 1800s, developers transformed large tracts of farmland in Queens and Brooklyn into attached and detached single-family homes. Years later, many of these homes stand strong, maintained by New Yorkers making their name in the City that Never Sleeps. 

Astoria in Queens and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn have large stocks of attached and detached single-family homes. Usually, these properties are two stories and sometimes have a downstairs dwelling. Some of these homes sit back from the street with space for a garden out front. There are even single-family homes that have a driveway and garage space for residents to park their cars. 

Detached homes sit alone, whereas attached homes share a wall or two with neighboring buildings on either side. As the sole proprietor of the property, owners should save up money in a repair fund to rehab portions of the property. 

Multi-family houses

New Yorkers seeking to invest in the real estate rental market or looking for a multi-generational living situation should consider purchasing a multi-family. 

Residential multi-family properties feature two to four units per building, creating opportunities to generate passive income or host multiple long-term rentals while living on site as well. 

Having a building full of renters can be a financial boon that can help cover the costly mortgage needed to purchase these properties and create a path to potential long-term appreciation. Beyond fiscal responsibility, New Yorkers buying a multi-family home must maintain the property and make repairs as needed - a notable difference from that of condo or co-op ownership.

It takes a lot of time and energy to manage these properties, but they allow owners to earn solid passive income and help other NYC residents find new homes.