The numbers behind the episode, the borough prices, and each host's pretend $20M call.
312 East 106th Street, East Harlem. Rent-stabilized. That's about $9,800 per apartment, less than two months of Manhattan's median asking rent (about $5,000). Then it sold twice more in 11 months.
Unit count is 28–30 depending on the source.
Bar height = sale price. Bought in a 2016 portfolio on a plan to raise rents; the 2019 rent law ended that plan and the loan went bad.
Cap rate = yearly rent left after expenses ÷ price. NYC apartment buildings averaged about 6.1% (Matthews, Q2 2026). When the loan rate is above the cap rate, borrowing shrinks your return.
One-year · two-year lease increases set by the Rent Guidelines Board. Costs from its 2026 cost index. Stabilized prices are down about 45% from 2019 on average; distressed sales 70–90% (GREA).
GREA (formerly Ariel Property Advisors), Q2 2026. Bars share one scale. Only figures the report published are shown. Same city, two markets: free-market rents rise, stabilized rents are frozen.
Gains in green, losses in red.
Ariel/GREA via Commercial Observer. Many small walk-ups are under 25,000 sq ft and outside Local Law 97. Office-to-home tax break 467-m needs 25% affordable units: a big-tower game.
Both, and the line is debt. Borrowed buys are a trap at today's rates. With cash and patience, small free-market buildings are a buy. Stabilized buildings only at distressed prices, with cash, and someone who can fix a boiler at 2 a.m. Ada scores every portfolio each episode.