Open Houses for today

and yes I know typos--spell check is always something I think about after I post!!!

Saw 315 East 68th #13CD yesterday.
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/492104-coop-315-east-68th-street-lenox-hill-new-york

The pictures made it seem much larger than it actually was. The finishes were ok, but the space felt very cramped overall. It is two combined units and thus the kitchen is in the corner and very maze-like. Not big enough for my family and me. Also, overpriced for the size.

Stopped by http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/487756-condo-2109-broadway-upper-west-side-new-york today. Only the third floor, at the B'way/73rd corner, but quiet.

The kitchen/baths/floors had been very well done. The floors had a great finish, with no hint of gloppy too-shiny polyurethane. Walls/doors/hardware in good shape.

The Ansonia has become so high-falutin' that OH visitors have to be escorted up from the lobby. Must be a PITA for the showing brokers, as two are needed for cover.

Thanks for sharing, Ansonia seems expensive! Anyone else see anything good? Bad?

That is one odd layout, NWT. I can't decide if I like it or not, and I tend to like quirky layouts as long as they work. Did it work?

Haven't been to an open house in weeks. Bored with stock, nothing in my price range seems to be listed, and have been very busy at work.

my open house saw more traffic today than in the last few months combined. no lie.

The Ansonia apartment is certainly popular. We had a discussion about it two weeks ago.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/18407-open-houses-from-sunday-27-2bed2-bath

We're seeing a lot more foot traffic at open houses, and this week alone FOUR (out of seven) properties we had our eyes on went into contract. Three of the four had been listed less than a month. The listing broker of one of them told us (unofficially) that one had three offers and is in contract for the asking.

The broker line seems to be that Q3/Q4 closings are not true comps because banks weren't lending late last year and the sales were from desperate sellers to cash buyers. I don't believe this for a second, but if it turns out to be true, we'll probably keep on renting....

lobster, I'd forgotten I'd read about that place. Just wanted to show my niece the inside of the Ansonia and that was the first OH that turned up this morning.

evnyc, I think it works. As lobster said, it comes off better than the floorplan suggests. E.g., the dining room looks choppy in plan, but the heavy cornice molding makes a full circle so it reads as round. The bedrooms didn't seem all that small, but I tend to focus on stuff like doorknobs and miss the forest for the trees. The mantel in the LR was botched. Must've been ripped out at some point, and replaced with MDF, glued-on molding, and odd little baby-blue glass tile.

NWT/lobster: i've seen the SE corner apt many times, so I skipped it. I really like the corner LR and it's the quieter corner, so it's one of my fave Ansonia apts. Be better for my purposes of course, if it were the original 3-4br floorplan.

nwt, even the plebian properties these days often require you be accompanied up. which may explain why some people think things seem so crowded. you have to wait. sometimes for almost a half an hour. which really screws with the viewing schedule.

LAD, in case you hadn't noticed, inventory is expanding at a much faster rate than contract signings. in fact, i'd say that contract signings have been mediocre thus far. so patience.

That was only my second OH in 15 years or so, and hadn't realized places were now fussy about the unaccompanied. Of course, I'd probably contributed to that myself from taking side tours of the cellar, roof, etc.

anyone make any good offers yesterday? Anyone see anything at a price that they went " Wow this is actually not a bad deal"

I went to see this listing:
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/494064-coop-178-east-80th-street-upper-east-side-new-york
When I got there, open house was cancelled. I called the broker to complain that the listing was not updated. She said it went for best and final on Friday. Has been on market less than 1 month, PS 6 and sub 900K so not surprised.
I went to 2 other 2 bed/2 bath on upper east for 855k and 899k and foot traffic was much better than this time last year (when I started looking). I am a bear when it comes to the NYC apt market (as my handle might imply) and I fear that I have missed the bottom. Although I still didn't really see anything that I liked last year at the time either.
I feel that the fear is gone and now buyers are back. I hope I am wrong. I think the subrubrs will remain weak. I'm hoping for just a temporary bump up in activity for quality properties this spring and then a further slide. We'll see. Just got my confidence shaken by yesterday's activity.
It just seems like the fear is gone and now people are moving quicker to buy (but definitely at lower prices).

prices are more in line with what buyers are expecting, so there is sales volume... simple. I expect prices to start heading upward but not much.

GCONDO - Hope you're right.