Stupid broker tricks tutorial. 170 East 87th #W7H LMAO

I know there are examples all over of the games brokers play, but this one was such a laugh that I had to write it up. The apartments above and below, W8H and W6H, both closed in early 2007 for $1,075,000. One was a late 2006 contract and the other early 2007. So in late 2007, the broker/owner puts W7H on the market for $1,395,000, +30% vs. comp from less than a year earlier. She does 4 baby step... [more]

I know there are examples all over of the games brokers play, but this one was such a laugh that I had to write it up. The apartments above and below, W8H and W6H, both closed in early 2007 for $1,075,000. One was a late 2006 contract and the other early 2007. So in late 2007, the broker/owner puts W7H on the market for $1,395,000, +30% vs. comp from less than a year earlier. She does 4 baby step price cuts totaling 3% of original ask, then raises the price so she can "cut" back to where she was just before the cut. Having found no greater fool, she pulls the listing in April 2008 http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/158562-condo-170-east-87-street-carnegie-hill-new-york But wait, there's more. After a pause for refreshing, she relists it (as a new listing, dropping the sorry 2007-08 history) in June 2008 at $1,365,000 and repeats the pattern exactly - 4 cuts adding up to approximately nothing, then raise, then cut back to pre-raise level. Then, delist at Thanksgiving for further refreshing, relist in January and do 4 more cuts before delisting 2/22/09 asking $1,150,000. http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/316652-condo-170-east-87-carnegie-hill-new-york But that's not all. The next day, 2/23/09, she re-relists (again as a new listing with the sorry 2007-08 and 2008-09 history wiped away) and raises the ask to $1,195,000 so that she can start the cycle of non-cut cuts once again. As of last week she was on cut number two and back to the $1,150,000 ask at the last delisting. The best part? The current listing contains the following gem: "Great deal 1100 per sf . Same line was selling for 1300 per sf" This of course is a lie, since the 2007 trades were at about $1,030 psf (on actual 1,045 sf vs. her 1,100 claim) and the only time anyone ever saw $1,300 was in the asking prices in her various listings http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/386496-condo-170-east-87-street-carnegie-hill-new-york Oh, and this time it's listed for rent, too. $4,900 after two cuts. Problem is there is another apartment with the same floorplan that cut to $4,650 today, so it's not over. Sorry for long post. I just thought this was a great example of 1) stupid broker tricks (she seems to have tried most of them) and 2) the power of StreetEasy. [less]