NYC Garden Level Apartments

[Brian Hall]

I'm considering purchasing a primary residence, garden level apartment in NYC.  Upper West Side, prime neighborhood, top public schools, great proximity to everything including transportation.  A few questions for anyone that may have experience:

1) What can you expect in resale for a garden unit vs non-garden/building unit?

2) Should I be concerned about being the highest value unit in the building?

3) How do I determine a purchase price?  Meaning, there are limited units in the building and no other ground floor/garden units. Can I compare square footage cost to higher floors?  

4) Are there any good data sources (outside of MLS) that I can freely access for research?

5) What am I failing to ask? What other consideration?

6) There has been limited inventory and I have time...how does the time of year impact inventory? Should I hold off as we roll into the nicer months? More inventory = more leverage?

Thanks in advance for your help!