offering considerably less than asking price

Just make the offer, put it in writing and include comparables ets--just what you've stated here. You should not feel bashful about making an offer you feel is appropriate, or even one below that. If the Seller is reasonable, they'll come back with a counter. If not, then move on. You do not have to apologize for negotiating.

I totally agree with Random Guy. Put what you think is a fair offer in writing and back it up with comparables from actual recorded sales within the last 12 months. Since it is a co-op, provide evidence that you are a viable buyer who will get board approval by detailing your compensation, liquid assets, and a mortgage approval letter. There is no reason to feel bad about your offer. The worst they can say is no and then someone else buys it. Since it has been on the market that long, they are very likely to propose a counter-offer to your bid. They will probably counter at $525K. Let us know what happens. Good luck!

I agree. You've done your homework and have come up with what you believe is a fair offer. There's no reason to feel bad about this.

Agree. On my unit, i had two initial offers. the first guy offered a 5.4% discount to start and after counters would not budge past a 3.7% discount. The next guy started at an 8.3% discount (lowball to me), but we negotiated it up to a 2% discount. The reason they keep raising the ask is to keep up with what they perceive as the current market. You cannot keep a unit at the same ask for an entire year without taking into consideration market appreciation, or at least perceived market appreciation.

Are you sure they have not done some work to make it a niver place also? I agree with #5 that apts will not necessarily go down over the course of a year because property is still appreciating for the most part. Either way, figure out what your end price is and what you think it is worth and go from there. If you truly feel it is only worth around the high 400's, then start at 460 - assuming you do not care if they refuse to respong and/or deal with you. You should assume they think it is worth around 545 and will not exactly be thrilled with an offer of 460 (16% off ask). Good luck.

I agree completely with your rationale, OP. It also seems that you don't "have to have it" which also strengthens your position. What do you have to lose? The reason the place hasn't sold, however, may be a wacko board & not the price. Anyway, good luck & do let us know what happens.

I am certain they did not do any renovations since the original listing. According to the market reports (Corcoran and MillerSamuel) the coop market for one bedrooms has deteriorated since last year, between 3 and 6 percent.

Could also be the board rejected a prospective buyer based on the price of the deal in order to keep the prices of the apartments up...that's why they raised the asking to ensure board approval

does anyone (#9 or anyone else) know of coop boards that have actually rejected a deal based on the price?

LLL: how does that explain recent sales for similar apartments in the range of 425.000 to 475.000?

If a reasonably priced coop apartment in a stable coop has remained on the market for an appreciable amount of time, its usually due to a board rejecting the applicant and or failure to obtain financing. For something this small, the latter doesn't seem right. probably a board rejection situation.

Needs advice...stop being a wimp...make the offer and hold to it. It's been on the market for over a year. Don't you realize you have the upper hand.

Actually, you should read the Corcoran report a little closer (if that's what you're going to use) - it says the OVERALL average price of all 1 bed coops are down 2% by average, up 1% by median, and up 3% by price per square foot. But in the UES specifically where you're looking, it says the average price is down 3%, and the median is down 1% from one year ago.

This all basically means at the end of the day that prices haven't changed (much) for 1 beds in the specific area you're looking in the past year. Your assumption that 1 beds should be selling for less in the UES doesn't seem borne out of this data. but neither does it indicate that the price for this unit should have been raised, either.

You don't need to 'back up' your offer with comps. You simply need to (or have your broker) make your offer in a thoroughly professional and polite manner. If they say 'no,' that's that. But if they try to negotiate, THEN you can pull out all your comps, pie charts, graphs, tweezers, and an electron microscope to back up your offer. As will they, by the way. And then you have a real horse race.

i actually saw a listing come back on after a few weeks -- the broker told me the board rejected the applicant -- and the price of the apartment went up -- i asked how negotiable the asking price was and the answer was not at all or the board will reject

Why should we believe what a real estate company (Corcoran) reports. CNN had a report showing the real estate companies are not telling the truth for fear of the market going down even further.

The Corcoran report states that 1 bedroom coops went down 6% in 1Q 07

#15, the irony is that those sorts of price controls will actually hurt that co-op far more than a recorded sale at a lower price. They can't stop the market for co-ops from going where it's going to go. If they insist on not allowing sales at market level, they'll just make it that much more difficult for their owners ever to leave and the apartments in their building will become even less valuable.

FWIW, Douglas Elliman claims 1-beds (co-ops and condos) are up 2.3% in Q2.

For a coop board to reject someone based on the price of a unit is idiotic. Do these morons really think that this is going to HELP their building? I wonder how many coops actually do this.

I live in a coop and am so glad my board has a clue - that's why apts in my building sell.

#19, do they claim that coops are up 2.3% and condos are up 2.3%, or is it just that 1BRs in the aggregate are up 3%. The way the market is moving it's very possible that this combined figure comes from condos going up and coops going down (but condos going up enough more than coops that, all told, 1 BRS are up 2.3%)

#18 and 20 i couldn't agree more. as soon as i heard that i ran for the hills....last thing i would ever want to do is be stuck with an apartment because an idiotic board wont approve a selling price. imagine a financial downfall and you cant sell and cant rent (because the board wont approve the rental)...it was trump plaza on 61st st

#22 - Trump Plaza? Sounds like a communist operation....you made the right move.