OPEN BOOK: Sale at 425 East 79th Street #11K

NWT: about 9 weeks ago

Great catch!

OnTheMove: about 9 weeks ago

"That woman spent $11,000 to break her lease - was that the Apthorp, do you think?"

drdrd: All roads lead to streeteasy, it seems. I think the building is 98 RSD, and Suzanne Lane of the NYT article is the OP of this thread:

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/14059-98-riverside-drive

NWT: about 9 weeks ago

drdrd, not the Apthorp. No new leases there since the current owners bought a couple of years ago. $4.6K would've been a steal there.

drdrd: about 9 weeks ago

That woman spent $11,000 to break her lease - was that the Apthorp, do you think?

w67thstreet: about 9 weeks ago

So sniper you are saying you got an italian lemming. Como si dice 'italian lemming'?????

Wow $100k loss in 9 months! Pop open the persecco!! Ciao

sniper: about 9 weeks ago

as another little addendum to the story, there is another apartment for sale in my old building - same size as mine, 3 floors higher - that is asking significantly less than I did

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/462834-coop-425-east-79th-street-yorkville-new-york

I contacted the broker and they said that they "are a motivated seller that wanted to get attention with their price and they already have quite a few offers with a contract out." we will see. it is listed at 20% off of my original asking price and 16% off my sale price.

w67thstreet: about 9 weeks ago

Sniper =? Little dense today. How goeth the penthouse hunt? Told ya, it's gonna be a nice faceoff for a few months. The window of selling is shutting quickly with Halloween, thksgiving, Xmas, kwanzaa, etc. Coming up and then the adult movie shindig in las Vegas. The god of cash flow takes no holidays and doesn't discriminate. Happy impending Kwanzaa all u sellers!!!!! Hahahahaha

falcogold1: about 9 weeks ago

w67, noticed that also...
Makes you wonder what the heck her trick could be.
I'm thinking.........75 feet of garden hose and a golf ball.

falcogold1: about 9 weeks ago

sniper,
loved the thread and nice to see you in the paper.

w67thstreet: about 9 weeks ago

Flmao. Notice that it's all the 'brokers' who sold is now renting all the while continuing to scream at their clients to buy buy buy ?!!!!!!?????!!!!!!! Flmao. That bitch who is complaining about not having the clout of being a board member, makes me wanna puke. That boyfriend of hers better be in it for the sex cause there is no way you wanna be hitched with that ego for life, uggggggggggggg. Run dude run!!!!

NWT: about 9 weeks ago

This was a good thread, so I'd looked you up back then, and remembered the name.

And you all did get a great photo out of it!

Tenafly did well in today's paper....

sniper: about 9 weeks ago

NWT...give that man/woman a cigar!!!!!!

How did you know?

Shout out to Keith Burkhardt (The Burkhardt Group) - he thought of me when the Times writer asked him for people for the article.
and Tom of www.nbpny.com who helped me get to the point of being "Owners No More."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/realestate/11cov.html

NWT: about 9 weeks ago

Sniper's in today's (10/11) RE-section story about owners becoming renters.

REmama: about 5 months ago

Sniper- excellent post and thread. Thanks for all the info. Looking to offer 650K on an overpriced 799K apartment. Brokers will not deal with anybody who is represented and although I am an attorney, I hate having myself for a client. The last time I tried to offer 20% below ask, I was told that I knew nothing about NY Real Estate, that I was arrogant, etc. I yess'd the RE Broker to death, but I'm over that kind of abuse. Just want to make the offer and be done with it. The place needs a good deal of work too.

julia: about 5 months ago

I found it...thanks

sniper: about 5 months ago

it is not nybits. it is nbpny.com it stands for "no brokers please new york"

julia - email me apt11k4sale@me.com and i will give you his email

julia: about 5 months ago

how do I get in touch with Tom of nybits.com...i went on the website but i don't know what to do to find him. does he work for nybits..please help...i think i found a place and need help with the package. thanks.

sniper: about 5 months ago

thanks.

i did evaluate his finances. As I mentioned above, Tom from www.nbpny.com consulted me all the way through and he made sure that I got a good picture of his finances before taking it to the lawyers. this was not that easy because my buyer was very "looka, i hava da money. i tella you it won't be a problem." i had to explain to him several times that i trusted him but he needed to document all these things for the board and they wouldn't just take his word for it. it took a while but he finally filled out a financial statement for me. also, he was putting down about 40% so he didn't need to get a huge mortgage. when Tom did his board package he was a bit difficult to work with as well but he got it done.

if you are in a position where you are looking to evaluate buyers and need help i strongly recommend signing up for www.nbpny.com just for the consulting that is included with the sign up. it was well worth it for me.

AJC10: about 5 months ago

Sniper,this post is fascinating. Thank you for telling the whole story--I'm glad I caught it this time around. I have a question for you, if you don't mind: did you evaluate your buyer's finances before proceeding to contract? Or did you let the Board do that during their approval process? If you did evaluate his ability to actually get a mortage and pay $835,7000 for your apartment, how did you figure out what to look for?

sniper: about 5 months ago

i decided to stop posting and reading the site this week because there is too much noise andsubstance has been lacking lately, but i JUST HAD TO POST THIS:

"The median price fell 18.5 percent from a year earlier to $835,700, New York appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said today."

if you read this thread or followed my sale you would know that MY EXACT SALES PRICES WAS $835,700...totally by chance of my somewhat strange negotiations with my buyer. i just thought it was uncanny that we landed on that exact price quoted by Miller Samuel.

sniper: about 6 months ago

thanks. it was a fun process.

bjw2103: about 6 months ago

sniper, can't believe I missed this thread before. Great job on the sell, and best of luck finding a new home.

sniper: about 6 months ago

i cracked open the vino with dinner. it is okay. it is an italian red wine. i prefer pinot noir.
my favorite wine is Flowers ('04) from Sonoma. great stuff.

tenemental: about 6 months ago

Well done again, Sniper. I'm still wondering about the wine, hoping for something along the lines of "No wine has ever tasted so good..." but I can handle the truth if not.

aboutready: about 6 months ago

sniper, awesome job. i would never have the fortitude to take on a FSBO, but thanks for showing how it can be done.

sniper: about 6 months ago

Update...

I emailed this to my OZ Moving rep:

I now have 3 estimates from different movers. Your rate is very competitive
and to be honest I thought that you personally provided the most attentive
customer service up until this point. The one difference is that your
competitors are willing to offer me the first month of storage for free. If
you were able to do this as well I would likely be ready to book the job
with you. Please let me know if this is possible. I hope to hear from you
soon. Reach me via email or phone.

Response:
I would be glad to do that.

They got my business. That's $495 of the original quote (which will now go towards the tip and some extra insurance).

sniper: about 6 months ago

thanks. keep in mind, broker or not, I would have likely put in the $3000 or so in upgrades to create a little more value in my place...so let's say i used THE BEST broker out there and they could have gotten me $850,000 (they all told me I would get more with them, hoping I wouldn't understand that I would net less, i guess) at 5% that would have cost me $42,500 in fee, I would have net $807,500 and I would be losing many nights sleep torturing over the fact that I just paid someone $40K+ to sell my place. Even if they got me my asking of $875K, I would have net $4,450 less.

Now I am working on the moving rate. I will let you know where I get.

lr10021: about 6 months ago

Sniper, so you spent .39% plus a considerable amount of time and it sounds like you nailed it.

Meaning if you were able to negotiate a 5% commission, your total savings is 4.61%.

So in exchange for your time you saved about $38,000 of presumably tax free money.

I think it is fair to say that this is FAR FAR better than the average FSBO. Good Job.

printer: about 6 months ago

Counting myself and other members of my family, we've used OZ 6 times, and they've been great. Extremely efficient, but careful with the stuff. And they've never deviated from the originally quoted price - actually one time it came in lower than their estimate.

starfish: about 6 months ago

I just asked nicely and they got back to me with a better price the next day. We had used another mover several times and had a price from them, and I told them that when I asked. I have a feeling they were flexible because we were moving in the middle of a month when there are fewer moving jobs to be had, but it worked anyway. I will say though that your price is barely above what we paid for a 2 BR and we did not have the 2 month storage component - that means they have to load and unload the truck twice for you (a lot more work than a straight move), so you may not have as much room to negotiate (although they did a full pack and unpack for us).

sniper: about 6 months ago

Star- did you simply ask them "is this your best offer?" and the came back with something better or did you use another tactic? did you do over phone or email? please share.

sniper: about 6 months ago

good call. will do that today and report back. i am sure OZ could do better too if i told them about my flat rate offer.

starfish: about 6 months ago

Just a tip, don't be afraid to go back to FR and the others and ask them if it is their best offer. We had good luck negotiating with FR. Good luck.

sniper: about 6 months ago

I got 3 moving estimates that include all funriture, lamps, electronics, computers, etc. and packing the kitchen up, plus 2 months of storage, then moving out of storage to next place (and reassembling wall unit, beds, etc.):

(all pre-tip and only minimal included insurance)

OZ - $3730.00
Flat Rate - $3583.00
Eagle - $5652.00

huge disparity, right? crazy. i guess based on everyone's experiences with Flat Rate it seems like a no brainer

sniper: about 6 months ago

just thought i would throw this into the mix:

a friends parents just got their offer accepted on an UES 1150 sq ft 2 bed/2 bath (great views) that isn't in great shape but they planned on gut reno anyway....$680K! it is as far east as my place and a little higher up but that is a good price even if you plan on putting in $100K worth of work.

sniper: about 6 months ago

grassy ass!

nyc10023: about 6 months ago

Sniper, don't underestimate yourself. You are a great salesperson.

sniper: about 6 months ago

i am very happy. i do not kid myself - i know that i found a needle in a haystack in this market. i didn't really think of it as talking him up on the price. i was only 1 or 2 weeks into being on the market and although i thought "hey, maybe this apartment is in demand," i quickly talked myself back into reality. we compromised - we came just shy of dead center from my asking and his initial offer. that is kind of how i figured it should be. when we negotiated he kept referring to how much he had come up from his initial offer, like:

"look-a, i make-a you da offa anda now i offa you $25,000 more. dat'sa as far as i can go!"

i had to keep reminding him that adding more to his initial offer wasn't as meaningful to me because it wasn't my asking, it was just some arbitrary starting point that he created and was working up from. if he offered me $700K and then upped it to $750K, in his mind he was adding a whopping $50,000 to his initial offer but it was just from some starting point he made up. follow me?

romary: about 6 months ago

Congrats - great story. Tip the movers

lowery: about 6 months ago

Hey, sniper, are you sure you wouldn't like to be a RE broker? You talked the only serious offeror up about 4% on his price - not bad. I find your story very illuminating. First, people who come to OHs don't often pan out. The friend of someone down the hall who likes the building might have been just curious, but by making an offer on the spot proved he was serious. I can't get over how you talked him up on price, though. You should be happy!