Sale at 465 WEA #4B: One full bath in C7. Impact?

I saw that listing and assume we'll either see it in the 'price chopper' thread or simply 'de-listed'. Looking at the floor plan, it seems there is a fire place at the south end of the apt and perhaps that used to be the living area. Look how the double windows frame the fire place on each side.

Which further leads me to suspect this apt is cut up of a much grander space. In my opinion, the layout is poor and the bath issue is only one major flaw in this property.

I see that #6B traded for $2.55 back in 2006 and it figures the listing price is based on that sale. That sounds right from a 'where is the market now' perspective, but this has too many warts to be supported in a difficult market. Perhaps the 2006 buyers got caught up and over-paid. Tough to say.

walterh7: Good points about the layout, especially regarding the placement of the decorative FP. I'm not certain how far the floorplan might be from the way Schiff and Waid conceived it a hundred years ago. For what it's worth, #3B was very similar when it sold in 2005:
http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=786676

excepting, if I'm reading the floorplan right, #4B now has some kind of walk-in master shower/steam shower where #3B had a bathtub.

So to me (shaped by my experiences with downtown clients with young kids) the issue is not that the second bath is far away, it's that I can't imagine putting a four-year-old in a shower.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

West 81st and Ali,

What is your guess on what this apartment ultimately trades for?

realestatejunkie: I'd like to see it before venturing a guess. It probably needs a fair amount of work.

rej -- I never make public guesses about where other people's listings are going to end up (I know Westie sometimes does, but he's way more charming than I am).

I would, however, second his comment that next buyer will probably budget in a renovation. Floors look to be in beautiful shape, but no photos of the kitchen or baths whatsoever -- well, the lack of a picture is worth a thousand words.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Here's the as-built plan:
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=242909&imageID=417154&total=1&num=0&word=umbria&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=0&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=1&e=w

The seven-room "B" layout, with the public rooms facing east, appears to be original.

Ali makes a great point. We have two kids (both younger than 4), and I can't even imagine living in an apartment without a bathtub to wash them in every night.

This might be a naive question - if an apartment doesn't have a bathroom with a bathtub, is that (a) easily fixable, (b) fixable but very expensive/difficult, or (c) not fixable?

If not for this problem, this might be my wife's dream apartment...

Newbuyer99: There was a tub in that bathroom originally, so adding one probably wouldn't involve major hassles like big plumbing changes, moving walls or obtaining a wet-over-dry waiver. Good tubs are expensive, but in the context of your overall renovation budget, this would probably be a minor line item.

^ what he said. You have to rip out the shower and the underlying layers (pan etc)., but the old drain is probably still there. Then you put in whatever new underlying layer you need, put in a new tub, and retile. I've never done that job so I'm not sure what it would cost ... primer could probably tell you... maybe $20K-$25K? Probably depends on the building and how much they ride herd on renovations, but this ought to be a reno they'd approve.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Walterh7 may have been right about the price. The first cut is $196K, to $2.399MM.
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/581348-coop-465-west-end-avenue-upper-west-side-new-york

Expanding on why Walterh7 might be on to something: After five weeks and three open houses, the regular pool of mid-2MM UWS C7 buyers has probably seen this apartment. They passed at $2.6MM. Now the price has to come down enough to either convince one of those buyers that the listing is a good value, or make the apartment affordable for a buyer who couldn't play at the original ask.

#4B actually shows better than I expected. The LR and DR are elegant, and the kitchen needs updating - and a gentler color palette - rather than gutting. The major problems are in the bedroom wing. The single bathroom (with no tub), plus an overall footprint that might fit two bedrooms better than three, might put #4B in competition with nice C6s rather than full-blown C7s. There's quite a price break between those categories.

The most likely buyers for this apartment are empty-nesters or couples without kids who want a gracious space and don't need to pack several dependents into the apartment. That said, an extra bathroom (or even just a half-bath) is always a boon, especially for those who like to entertain.

One last thought on 4B--the lack of views coupled with the low floor location are also not doing the apartment any favors. I have not visited in person, but from experience on WEA I know the boxed-in feeling that can come from seeing neighboring walls outside every window. This isn't as big a problem on a higher floor, where one also gets decent light, but down on 4--depressing and dark.

W81, nice find on the original floor plan. Crappy design. The owner better hoped they don't get lumped in with the C6 mkt rather than the 7's because they are looking at a number <$2mm if that is the case. I'm confident someone will justify a $2mm price to themselves based on the pricing of 6B alone. Greater fool theory.

Two $50K price cuts in the last three weeks.
02/03/2011 Listed by Corcoran at $2,595,000.
03/10/2011 Price decreased by 8% to $2,399,000.
04/21/2011 Price decreased by 2% to $2,349,000.
05/11/2011 Price decreased by 2% to $2,299,000.
The asking price is now below the 2005 sale of #3B mentioned above.

I agree with some of the comments that even at the lower price, the bathroom situation pretty much rules it oult for families with multiple young kids. Can't imagine not having a private adult bathroom with young children. The alternative floorplan provided doesn't seem to make it that much better as getting the little kids all the way down the long hall would be a pretty big pain.

From looking at the original Umbria floor plans I wonder if it was an afterthought to break up a large bedroom. Anyhow I saw this apartment and there is NO BATHTUB. The price is still too high at 2,299 especially when they are asking 34% down.