What Price Will This Apartment Sell For?

This is a studio line in a great prewar building in an ultra prime central village location. The building requires 60% down, the sort of requirement that I imagine would be very difficult for small units and starter apartments like this one. Both 5D and 6D sold to owners of neighboring apartments, presumably for a combination; neither, apparently, were actively marketed. Given that this unit has been on the market for two months it seems safe to assume that a combination with a neighboring unit is not in the cards.

How much does this apartment sell for? And, perhaps just as important, what sort of person buys a studio with 60% down?

well, considering there is no way to get from the foyer to the living room, i wouldn't expect them to get very much for a 5' wide closet and bathroom.

It's a good question - cringe-worthy grammar, but a good question. It is a decent sized studio in a prime building with low maintenance. I would venture to guess a potential buyer could include a couple who wants a pied-a-terre in the village or maybe a retired single person with a moderately substantial nest egg.

Not worth a penny more than $325k.

This isn't a starter apartment. It is an established person's ideal pied a terre. I hope the building permits that. It is a beautiful building in a AAA location and reeks of "maturity." NOT an NYU student type place. My guess: sells in high $400s just under $1000/sqft. Owner likely wants just over $1000/sqft which is holding this up. Staging is unfortunate because while clean looking from the pix, the decoration is very busy and fussy and taste specific. If I owned this and were selling, I'd want to broaden the appeal as much as possible given the already restricted pool of buyers willing to plop down 60% for just a studio. My advice: reduce asking price to $504,000 and accept any bid from $485,000 up.

I'm surprised that none of you provide any analysis based on the comps. The two divergent comps are what makes this interesting, IMHO.

I think it is quite striking that the owner of #5D chose to sell to the neighbor for $345,000 without even marketing the apartment to the general public. Both comps in this line are for sales to neighbors for combination. If a combination is out of the question in this case I think the low comp is the relevant comp. 2006 pricing seems about right given where the market is right now, so I think $330k.

I also wonder how a studio can be an "ideal" pied-a-terre. Wouldn't an 'established person' at least want a one bedroom? At the studio size you are competing against hotel rooms.

Re: pied a terre, for a guy who works in the city but lives elsewhere and just needs to crash here a night or two each week, a studio does it. Wife in Connecticut, consulting jobs in City that require late hours...a nice studio is the answer. No need for one bedroom. It is easier than a hotel because who wants to schlep over night bag to work and the unsettled feeling of a hotel when you have to do it every week or 2 weeks? Studio is nicer answer. Anyhow, it'll be an interesting one to watch now that we flagged it.

As for comps, too much unknown about the other two sales. Estate wreck dumped by distant relative to just get rid of the unit quickly? Seller who knew how much buyer wanted to combine and when approached by buyer said they would only sell for a premium? Other in-house arrangements? Who knows. They are somewhat instructive in the broadest sense, but not useful as regular comps.

I understand your point Kyle, but no matter how dumpy 5D was, don't you think it will be a big drag on the sale of this unit? Sure, it's possible that it was a sale between relatives. But is it really likely that the two relatives lived next door to each other and happened to be able to do an inside deal to make a combination unit?

4D may be in decent shape but it is obviously not in mint condition from the photos. No matter how dumpy 5D was in 2006 it seems really hard to justify asking 56% more than the 2006 sale price. The comp from 2008, on the other hand, seems legitimately irrelevant: some rich person with the big apartment next door just wanted the studio and was willing to overpay for it at the peak of the market.

The sort of pied-a-terre scenario you are talking about, where the apartment serves as a crash pad, seems to undermine the case for the fancy building and the prewar charm. There are a ton of very decent studios in doormen buildings in the immediate vicinity asking 400k or less:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/555192-coop-15-west-12th-street-greenwich-village-new-york
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/548423-coop-25-west-13th-street-greenwich-village-new-york
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/510149-coop-60-east-9th-street-greenwich-village-new-york

I agree: this will be an interesting one. My sense is that the board must be dominated by the owners of larger apartments and that they have really screwed the studio owners with the 60% down requirement.

Extremely old school building in a platinum location. The people who buy in the Beauclaire are not handicapped by a 40% financing rule.

To answer happy's second question, (and to disagree with Kyle which I rarely do) this is not a P-A-T but a primary residence for somebody's kid.

The last apartment I was in in this building was Amy Redford's place (yes the filmaker, yes Robert's daughter), a 1-BR which sold for nearly a million despite having a giant crack in the ceiling.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Thanks, Ali.

Care to give an estimate or comment on the comps?

If it was actually getting $2k as a rental, I would guess low $400s to buy.

Oh let me keep a studio in manhattan cause my $1mm consulting gig is too hard to schlep to Westchester, so so so bubble mentality.

Now, let me keep a village studio so I can lead my tranny life and or get my libido fix, well that's always in vogue.

Happy, I can't comment on other people's listing prices because a) it's against REBNY rules and b) I would hate it if other people did it to me.

But didn't I say above I rarely disagree with Kyle?

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

everyone's comments are interesting because I've been looking again and the price of studios have gone up..$300's are no longer out there..starting prices are in the $500's...I made an offer of $465k on a condo with an asking price of $550 and they would not even consider it.

julia, no offense, but did you even look at the listings that i provided for studio apartments in prime village locations asking under $400,000?

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/555192-coop-15-west-12th-street-greenwich-village-new-york
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/548423-coop-25-west-13th-street-greenwich-village-new-york
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/510149-coop-60-east-9th-street-greenwich-village-new-york

these are only the nicer ones, with doormen; there are plenty asking even less, even in the prime village.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate/residential/step_up_Z0jZB0yeOJEh98l43gpn8N
Not sure where you are looking Julia, lot of studios out there.

LICC: "If it was actually getting $2k as a rental, I would guess low $400s to buy."

Economists: "$2,000 * 12 * 15" = $360,000 is OVERPRICED.

Proper price: $2,000 * 12 * 12 = $288,000.

I was being generous. LICC would pay ANYTHING to own property, even if it's in LONG ISLAND CITY.

Location, location, location.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Julia - bubbles take a long time to burst. Prices are still falling in Miami, 5 years on.

Julia, you've seen our West 16th street prewar for $415K, right? Lo mtc., needs a new bathroom.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/528699-coop-253-west-16th-street-chelsea-new-york

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

To steve, "Economists" equals "imaginary voices in my head assuring me I am right even when multiple people make me look like a fool whenever I post about the rent/buy ratio".

Let's look at how laughable steve is. Forget this particular place. For $288k, assuming 20% down, the monthly after-tax cost to own would probably be around $1500. Maybe $1700 if maintenance is very high. In steve's bizarro world, you should rent for $2000 instead.

Maybe if the apartment is a dumpy 900sf two-bedroom on 52nd and 8th, it would be worth it in steve's bizarro land.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Happy, Ali...they are terrific places...i looked last weekend at park village west (?) because they have large alcove studios and low monthlies but they are not budging from their prices of $550k...I can go up to $460-$480k but I have to keep the monthly maintenance in the $500-700 range...It's amazing how i keep raising my budget but I'm always chasing a higher price..I'll probably rent but I'm not giving up..

I know there are a lot of studios in the $300's on the UES but I really don't like the area...I need an alcove studio because it gives me options on renovations..thank you everyone it keeps hope alive!!

LICC,

"assuming 20% down" is exactly what we cannot do in this case. The apartment requires 60% down. That's the whole point of the post. Clearly there is a much larger pool of people who can rent a studio for $2,000 a month than who have over $250,000 to put down on the same studio.

Even if it were true that an apartment that rents for $2,000 a month would sell for around 400k with 20% down, it doesn't follow at all that an apartment that rents for $2,000 a month would sell for 400k with 60% down.

Ali's suggestion that this apartment would work for the child of a rich person is the only one that makes any sense to me. But would the sort of building that requires 60% down allow parents to buy for their kids? Somehow seems unlikely.

If the kid had enough money in their own name to pay cash, then all the kid would need to show is enough income to pay the $600/month in maintenance + utilities, right? No parental involvement needed, I'd think.

And, for what it's worth, I have older, well-to-do relatives who have a couple of studio pied-a-terres in different places for which they paid cash. Although they are well-to-do, they are still very cheap about certain things and would not want to pay the maintenance/cc's of one bedrooms for a place they use infrequently. This is exactly the kind of place they would buy.

Finally LICC admits that he hears imaginary voices. About time, too, given the laughability of what he claims. Forgetting, for instance, that the "tax benefit" eventually goes away, and that even he admitted that it's already baked into the price.

Just checking in on this thread from about 2 months ago. Price had been reduced $14K to $525,000. Listing is getting stale now at 4 months old. Still another reduction will have to occur. IMIO, bids may come at best in $475K range with bidder thinking sale will close about $15,000 higher. Since $475K is still $50,000 off ask, the chasm is too great for meaningful negotiations, even in this best case scenario. I hate these nibble-type intermediate reductions as they ill-serve sellers and don't get a place sold. Granted, much of this is likely being driven by the seller and not the agent. It is going to sell for no more than $1000 sq/ft and probably less. Why not just reduce it to $505,000 and get things rolling. Even better, $499,900 and open up a category of new buyers who were only searching <$500,000 properties.

We'll continue to watch and see...

This apt should sell for high 300s......due to location and mtce....its WAY overpriced...

Julia...have you looked in murray hill......310 lexington has some alcove studios in the high 300s / low 400s...mtce is approx 800......can i ask why the limitation on mtce to 700.....the aloves at 310 are 650 sq ft...mtce of 800s.....seems reasonable

If the floorplan on both SE and Corcoran's website can be believed, this studio's living area cannot be entered. There is an entrance to a foyer / dressing area / bathroom but no way to get to loving room / kitchen. Obviously a mistake but where is the quality control that is supposed to come with a 6% commission? Not surprised though - did you get a load of those pictures? Taken with a cell phone, no doubt.

Lol. Yes, I guess you must budget in the reno which would create an entrance to the unit from the foyer. As a studio, I think this one is nice. I like the little dining alcove. 3 closets is nice for a studio, too. And 4 windows, including one in bathroom. Plus building is top-drawer. I don't know if it is because the profit for the broker is so low here (6% of $500K = $30K which is split with buyer's broker = $15K which is split with seller's RE firm leaves about $7500), or the broker is just not that good, but the photos are APPALLING: dark, cluttered, cramped looking. A small apartment should be made to look spacious, bright, welcoming--not like an octogenarian just died there. Whatever. How hard is it to get a DSLR with a 16mm lens and a tripod for some nicer angles and brighter shots and to spend an hour de-cluttering for the shots and then replacing everything for the owner? If the agent is reading, contact me--I'll take the photos for you that will transform the way the place comes across. It is a nice unit--too bad it isn't being shown off in the pix.

Reduced to $525,000 6 weeks ago. A $14K reduction makes no sense to me at all--and the market seems to be saying the same thing. It doesn't place the unit in searches for apartments under $500K, and it is close enough to the original price that if someone were motivated to bid on it, they would have done so at the $539K asking price. This is how NOT to sell your apartment. There will be another reduction or two or three after more time is wasted dawdling at this still-too-high asking price. I just do not get nibbling one's way down as a strategy.

Kyle,

Thanks for checking up on my old thread. I think you may have been onto something with your comment about the low fee for the broker from this sale--I wonder if she is just not really paying attention. The pictures are horrible, the floorplan is inaccurate, and the pricing strategy is non-existent. Once the listing crosses the six month threshold it will officially be stale.

I continue to believe that the 60% down requirement is just devastating for a studio, which in part explains why the only comps for this line are sales to neighbors for combinations. It's the rare individual who has saved up $300,000 for a down payment and uses it to purchase a studio (again, IMHO).

Julie, I live in Park West Village. If you are still looking, e-mail directly at smacstein@gmail.com. Lots of apartments get listed in the laundry room FSBO. I can look for you.

smacstein...I just signed a two-year lease with my LL but i'm keeping your e-mail address...If I could get a studio there in the $400's I would be thrilled.

Is $1,000 a sq ft still the norm?

julia...what did you conclude about lincoln towers --seems cheaper than pwv (but I;m not familiar with the latter)

Also Doorman buildings in good location - closer to 400 but realistically priced.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/building/201-west-16-street-new_york
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/building/kensington-house

Studios for over 500k better be Prime reno in Prime building with very high SF or they're artificially inflated by the Coop in attempt at price fixing. It happens.

60% down is ridiculous and should be illegal. I bet it wasn't 60% when the building first converted.
Shareholders in buildings like this are being held hostage by the Coop. I bet they'd reject a sale if the purchase price went down to the actual market value.

PWV have the highest priced studios I've seen...BUT, the lowest monthlies i've seen...Lincoln Towers monthlies are very high..about $600 a month higher than PWV.

andwin,

on what possible basis should 60% down be illegal? it's in the interest of the tenant shareholders to have a financially stable building, and if the board believes that a high requirement down contributes to that, that seems perfectly reasonable. it is not advantageous to the sale of a studio, that's for sure, but illegal? give me a break.

10% down should be illegal

even 20% is too little margin for a real estate purchase

"on what possible basis should 60% down be illegal? it's in the interest of the tenant shareholders to have a financially stable building, and if the board believes that a high requirement down contributes to that, that seems perfectly reasonable. it is not advantageous to the sale of a studio, that's for sure, but illegal? give me a break."

happy, couldn't agree more. The advantage of a coop is that it allows this kind of selection - some may lament it, but there are so many buildings in this city, that the rare building electing to require 60% down isn't going to prevent a more "normal" studio buyer the opportunity to find a home.

"10% down should be illegal
even 20% is too little margin for a real estate purchase"

Wbottom, I think that's kind of trivial - the far more important piece is having the banks do the proper homework before lending large sums of money. It's not news that that wasn't exactly the norm just a few years ago. While I wouldn't feel comfortable borrowing 90%, I'm not sure we should make it outright illegal.

re 10% down -- the control shouldn't be "legal" vs. "illegal" but things like capital requirements, loss reserves, etc. for whoever holds the investment in such a mortgage, all of which, if done properly, would result in requirements quite likely to be higher than 10%...

I am unfamiliar with this building's requirements for the buyer's assets.

Some of the fancier co-ops allow for some level of financing (usually in the 60-30% range) but still require the buyer have additional assets of some multiple of the purchase price (i.e greater than 1x). This ensures a financially sound buyer who could pay all cash and then some, but still allows her or him to derive the benefits of financing (tax, power of leverage etc.). If this building has an asset multiple requirement, then it makes the purchase/sale of a studio that much more difficult.

171 days on market and counting. Same cluttered, fussy photos posted on listing. Same sloppy floor plan showing no means of entering the apartment. Get the feeling no one involved here is terribly motivated? In any event, the listing is about to cross the 6-month mark and become "officially" stale.

Photos are atrocious. Corcoran outta be ashamed.

Pictures. Yep that's what's making it stuck in perpetual sell mode. Flmaozz

Talk about a market gone crazy. Here for your inspection, a seller who thinks it's Feb. 2007, asking what would seem to be an absurd price for this 4th floor tiny morsal. This is not in the village...it's the twilight zone.

falco: that's funny. Well, for kicks we'll just continue to monitor this. So far, it is following the course we all predicted last fall.

bubba, I'd think even you would agree at least that they ain't helpin.

Great location, plus at least one celebrity owner.

"Great location, plus at least one celebrity owner."

Did John Voight own this apartment?

Somehow I don't see John Voight in 500 sq/ft studio. But that's just me.

A celebrity owner in the building not in that apartment.

I go back to the comps:

02/28/2008 #6D $529,000
04/05/2006 #5D $345,000

The seller has anchored himself to the peak comp that sold to the next door neighbor for a combination. Incredible, he initially listed his place for more than $529,000. How do you think he explains away the $345,000 sale in 2006?

Hunter is right about one thing: it is a fantastic building and a great location. But it's also a studio with a 60% down requirement.

Terrible timing to bring a studio on market last summer, as the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and some slight optimism that the Great Recession was ending had cleared out all the pent-up demand studio buyers.

However, judging from the pickup in interest I've seen in the market, spring appears to be a-comin' -- and possibly bringing new buyers. I wouldn't declare this one stale till we see what February and March bring.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Ali, I doubt the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit ending is what has stalled this sale. After all, what first time homeowner in their right mind would want to park $300k+ in a studio? They would prefer to use that to buy a larger space, and even if not, the limited leverage really hinders the ability to build equity - the primary reason for buying that first home.

It has stalled because it is overpriced given the 40% financing limit, as everyone has pointed out. At its current price, there's a small market of buyers - wealthy people looking for a cute pied-a-terre (if allowed), someone with modest income but maybe a moderate trust fund, or the next door neighbor.

Interesting development at 26 East 10th:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/577301-coop-26-east-10th-street-greenwich-village-new-york

Apartment 4G--on the same floor and, indeed, the same elevator landing as the aforementioned 4D--went on the market on January 15th asking $995,000, and went into contract on February 9th. The unit has a same line comp from late last year:

09/01/2010 #7G $985,000 -5.7%

Unfortunately, the comparison is quite hard to make: 4G is in mint condition, whereas 7G needed major work. But 7G has two nice exposures, whereas 4G has one nice exposure, and one exposure facing a brick wall.

hp, didn't you buy? did that fall through? care to share or direct to a link where you already shared? sorry if that's too nosy.

i bought. i want to buy a studio or one bedroom in the village for my younger sister.

Over 6 months old, the price of this listing was reduced a ridiculous $14,000 during that period. This is not a serious seller. Why an agent is wasting time here is beyond me. Perhaps it is a favor of sorts tied to relationships that need to be kept healthy for one reason or another.

the seller is serious--i came upon this listing to begin with because i knew the woman who was renting the apartment. the seller actually paid her to break her lease and vacate early so that he could market it more easily. that's what makes it all the more confusing.

So I suppose the seller has to now add to the transaction costs the lost revenue of the past 6 months and into the future. Weird. Plain weird. Tenant wasn't asked to leave for any reno I imagine since the photos remain pretty atrocious and show a cluttered space that looks like it'll need updating. I don't get people.

I thought I would revisit my favorite listing. 9 months on, this thing continues to sit and sit, with only one measly price chop.

KW: remember with only a 40% mortgage, the cost of holding this unit empty is probably somewhat low, maybe $15K for an entire year.

Happyrenter, this segment -- let's call it the "half-million dollar starter apartment in a good building segment" is just slow. All over downtown anyway: I'm having trouble getting much traction on a mini-loft at 3 Hanover, and from what I can tell I'm doing better than most in the building. I know I work for a boutique shop, but I hear tales of woe coming out of Corcoran, Elliman, etc. with similar listings.

However, it's tough to convince sellers (or even agents) that the solution is to price chop when we see:

* a recovering economy (today's national jobs report and rising rents locally being two data points) and
* strength in other segments of the market (things are cooking along nicely in the 2-BR downtown space) and
* an increase in foot traffic on these listings (which is a lower increase than I'd like, but we're seeing it).

My guess is that for sellers who can hold, this standoff continues for some more months, and we'll see if interest rate/rising rent pressures don't bring some buyers around.

I don't think you're looking for counsel, but if you want it, I'm happy to talk to you about how I would play the buyer side.

ali r.
ali [at] dgneary [dot] com

The problem here though is not a slow market--it is an incorrectly priced apartment with bad marketing to boot. Whether it is worth as little as happyrenter thought or even as much as I thought, the point remains that as currently priced it will not sell. Period. And it is being borne out with each passing week. Maybe the seller doesn't care and the broker is willing to tolerate the listing for his/her own reasons. But what is certain is this is not selling.

"Bad marketing" is your phrase, not mine, but I'm not offended because it's not my listing.

I'd just make the observation that if, in general, things like this listing are mispriced, but buyers wanted to buy, one would think buyers would be walking in and making lowball offers.

I don't know if that's happened on the apartment in question, but I can tell you anecdotally, it isn't happening in this market sub-segment. When I had a five-room on Sutton for $899K, I had a steady flow of people walk in and say "I'll give you eight for it." Now I talk to agents who have properties listed at $500K, nobody is walking in and offering four, or even four-fifty; people are just not walking in, period.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

ali,

all this simply suggests that apartments in this segment are grossly mispriced, doesn't it? it can't be that there's no one left in new york who wants to buy a studio.

i had a big interest in this apartment and the sellers were absolutely unreasonable.

The "bad marketing" I refer to is based on the fact that despite aspirational pricing, the seller and/or agent hasn't even taken the time to get 1/2 decent photos. They are abysmal and if I were an agent I'd be embarrassed to post them. Forget a client who is uncooperative. You can still manage decent lighting and camera work even if you claim you can't stage the shots properly.

> I wouldn't declare this one stale till we see what February and March bring.
>
>ali r.
>DG Neary Realty

Feb and March seem to have brought a whole lot of nothing to this apartment. Care to declare this one "stale"?

$350 ish tops. good location. Approx 450 SF. OK coop monthly. Needs a reno. No light.

correction: fantastic location. tons of light. requires a new kitchen and some other work. 60% down requirement.

$255k

Oh, I remember this place. You can enter into the foyer and the bathroom but you cannot get into the apartment. Brilliant!

It's mid-April. 242 days on market and counting. Stale.

Nothing is more stale than this one, though. http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/565749-coop-20-east-9th-street-greenwich-village-new-york It has been on the market since late 2007. Ridiculous price to start with owner who was utterly unwilling to negotiate. Sought to recover costs for a fairly-taste specific renovation that included striped wall paper all over the bedroom and a prominent non-sensical archway between living room and bedroom (he changed the layout to devote much space to bathroom) in a post-war, among other things. Most challenging for this unit, though, is that comps in the building are not really direct comps because while many apts exist in similar lines to offer guidance, this one is directly above the garage entrance/exit on the 3rd floor. Owner has never, and still does not, take this into account with his pricing. At what price will it one day sell?...

"...One dollar, Bob!...."

Number 20 East 9th Street: it has a study, a dining room, AND a pantry AND an ensuite make-up vanity. I'd be tempted to offer one billion dollars for it. Is the broker legally obligated to present the offer to his client? What if the client told him that he doesn't want to hear about any offers over $2 million?

Places like that are a hoot. A seller so entranced with what he's done that he just can't see the place anymore. Whereas a buyer walks in, wonders where closet stuff can go, trips over the puddled curtains, can't navigate around that thing at the end of the bed in an 11'3" BR, and on and on.

450k aint bad. seems like a good price. im not in ny, but ive visited a lot and used to rent.

http://www.213loftcompany.com

the thing is, 3M is a perfectly nice apartment in a supremely desirable location. it could fetch a perfectly respectable price. i am amazed that the broker has stuck with it for almost four years. bizarre.

happy renter, what do you think would be a fair price? I'm thinking mid to high 8's would do it.

maly - don't think so - will go for more.

$850-900K will do it since that takes into account the terrible location within the building and the need to renovate to eliminate taste-specific decor. The high end of the range is unlikely in my opinion. We'll see. A long time from now. This owner already feels he's giving away the store. He isn't about to take another $100K-150K off the price.

ph41,

if this was going to sell for more than 900k don't you think it would have already done so sometime over the past four years? the most recent price chop was in november, not exactly yesterday. it's hard to believe this will sell for within 10% of the current asking price after sitting on the market for four years.

kyle, why do you say it is in a terrible location in the building? must be something not apparent from the listing.

Apt 3M within the Brevoort East is located directly above the garage entrance/exit. It is a busy garage open 24/7. Apartments on the 5th floor and above clear or equal the townhouses and buildings around the Brevoort and enjoy sky and GV views. So comps in the building from higher floors are a bit deceptive in terms of views and light when compared to 3M. But the idling cars, people loading and unloading, fumes--general noise and view of a busy driveway are the real problem.

4G sold for slightly above ask...

07/25/2005
Previous Sale recorded for $750,000.
01/15/2011
Listed by Corcoran at $995,000.
02/09/2011
Listing entered contract.
03/31/2011
Listing sold.
03/31/2011
Sale recorded for $1,040,000.

In addition to the taste-specific renovation, much of it also looks cheaply and/or incongruously done. The stove may be Viking, but the rest of the kitchen looks like stock Home Depot cabinets and granite with a $400 dishwasher.

Precious kitchen space is also taken up with a wine fridge. I suppose that appeals to some, but we don't consume enough wine to care about this appliance, let alone pay for it.

Kylewest, you just made my day :-). We're getting rid of a nice $2,000 wine fridge that we never use (was there when we bought the place) and replacing it with..... a pull-out trash and recycle cabinet. Everyone else has told us we're nuts, so I'm happy at least one person sees it the same way we do.

I highly value my $85 wine fridge and the space it takes up ... a lifesaver for my cases of Three-Buck Chuck (actually one case plus three bottles) when my apartment is 85 degrees (basically October through May).

I deeply regret not having a little flip-out sponge/brush drawer at my kitchen sink, though.

Everyone can use a pull out garbage. Most people can do with less wine.

Ah, but pull-out garbage with POP-UP LID !!! Heaven!!!

26 East 10th Street #4D: "Price reduced $10,000 8 hours ago." Tick tock, tick tock. Still no way into the living room according to the floor plan. Then again, why should the broker have caught this over the last 246 days or the buyer ask that it be corrected? Neither seems to care much about whether this unit ever gets sold.

A less than 2% price cut after 246 days makes a whole lot of sense. Especially brilliant to keep it just above 500k so that it won't come up in under 500k searches.

You are forgetting that a $10k cut in this building means a whopping $6k that the buyer saves out of pocket given the 60% down... This $10k cut is really the equivalent of a $30k cut in a 20% down building!

I'm sure buyer's will pick up on this immediately and the market will respond with a quick sale. Then again, a $499,000 ask would have, as happy says, opened the door to an entirely new group of potential buyers. But that would make sense and no point doing anything that makes sense at this point I suppose.

4D was revealed as a hopeless yutz back when he let the 4C buyers get away. Perfect combo, they were in a spending mood, and he'd have saved the broker's commission. Now they'll sit tight until he's really desperate.

I still think the story is in the comps: the two sales in 2006 and 2007 in the same line as combinations. I think any buyer will benchmark to the lower of those comps--sold to the neighbors for 350k without being marketed.

Reduced to $499k!

Amateur hour. This thing could be on the market for a looong time more.

A price reduction AND a revised floorplan - you can now actually enter the living area! Another 100k and we might be somewhere.

As we zero in on ten months, and the imminent summer real estate doldrums, I thought it a good time to ask: what in the world should these people do? Is there any way to salvage a decent sale out of this utter botch job?