Midtown South - 5th Avenue Area

32 West 40th Street - It's a Coop. Pricing is attractive relative to other buildings in the area.

"Been looking for a condo in the Midtown South/5th avenue area. Looking to buy a pied-a-terre. Amazed at how unrealistic most sellers are with their price expectations."

That's exactly what so many sellers say of buyers who insist on looking at apartments completely out of their range.

wow, that is quite a shot given you know nothing about me. cash buyer, just not willing to indulge the fantasies of unrealistic sellers.

Expand on how their unrealistic sellers?

Made bids at The Centria (48th Street) and 425 5th Avenue. Basically, $1,100/sq. ft. on both. Not low floors, but not a penthouse. Both sellers have had their places on the market for months.

So you made 2 offers on places that list at approximately 1550 and 1650$psf..your offer was about 30-40 % under ask and you call them unrealistic sellers?...pot calling the kettle......

Not sure why you are so aggressive.. I offered $1.15 vs. ask of $1.275......and $1.1MM vs $1.250. Do you really think these properties should ttrade for $1,600 per square foot?

not sure what i have said that makes me sound aggressive? simply disagreeing with your premise "amazed at how unrealistic most sellers are with their price expectations"
You made viable bids. assume these folks believe they are already well priced.

The part that annoys me is I get the sense the sellers are just waiting to see if the can find an overseas buyer willing to overpay. I say "overseas" not as a pejorative, just as an observation about the strength of the Euro and other currencies versus the dollar.

The part that annoys ME is that just because we're in a market downturn, buyers expect every offering to be a fire sale.

Kingda - be patient - unfortunately sellers are still stuck in wishful thinking mode. Add "Wall St. bonus" to the hopes of the seller. What the seller doesn't know is that the bonus will be mostly paid in stock and locked up for a year. Saw the same thing happen in South Fla, sellers holding out, holding out and then boom, an avalanche of price drops when they couldn't hold out any longer. I still remember the 2007 mantra "Manhattan is immune" to a real estate downturn - uh huh.

thanks, i am going to be disciplined.

Kingda: I also witnessed first hand the downturn in the Miami market. I tried to buy in Manhattan last summer but felt, like you, that sellers were not realistic. I have now decided to rent and am amazed that every rental I have been interested in is very negotiable. So, if rent continues to fall, how could purchase prices not follow. I have also found that most of the apts I am interested in are owned by overseas investors. And from brokers, I am hearing that many investors from China are still buying in new developments. I wonder how long it will be --if ever-- before these investor/buyers can't cover their costs and investment dollars slow. I think patience will be rewarded in this market.

It is the southern end of midtown south but no interest in the Grand Madison?

Looks like recent closings (ignore the original asking prices) are around the 1000 p sq ft mark.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/building/the-grand-madison

There is also 425 fifth. Same recent closings psqft

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/building/425-5-avenue-manhattan