(Not) Nearly Breakeven

320 East 57th Street, Apt. 12A. Just closed at an apparently modest 3.4% decline from the same unit previous sale that closed 6 weeks pre-Lehman.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/495121-coop-320-east-57th-street-sutton-place-new-york
07/30/2008 Previous Sale recorded for $870,000.
02/09/2010 Listed by Corcoran at $995,000.
04/15/2010 Price decreased by 2% to $975,000.
05/03/2010 Price decreased by 3% to $945,000.
06/14/2010 Price decreased by 6% to $885,000.
08/17/2010 Listing entered contract.
11/02/2010 Listing sold.
11/02/2010 Sale recorded for $840,000.

So first there are those pesky transaction costs coming and going, as so ably chronicled by West 81st. Just the broker's fee on the sale gets the loss to 10%-ish. Let's call it 12% and move on. Then there is the little detail of the 2008 estate sale resold in 2010 with a gushing listing description of the new top-of-the-line bathrooms and kitchens. Reno cost is always a popular debate on SE, but I think we can at least agree that doing a claimed ~1,250sf up to a "stunning", "gorgeous" and "top-of-line" standard ain't cheap. Are we talking maybe a $250-300k total hit here, vs. the $30k that will go in the records from a comps perspective?

What I want to know is why they sold after such a short hold...

Google reveals that the seller manages CDO securitization vehicles. Or used to manage anyway - the Google hits date to mid-2008 and earlier. Clearly there are not quite as many people in that line of work today compared to mid-2008...

That's interesting if we see more of that. It takes a while before people 'have to sell' after losing their job. Even if they find a new one, it probably pays less.

They may be just antsy or fertile. They bought a one-bedroom in the same building in 2005, sold in 2008 for this one. Maybe now it'll be a house somewhere.

why would you spend the time and money to renovate if you're the "antsy" type?

fertile, maybe.

07/30/2008 Previous Sale recorded for $870,000.
02/09/2010 Listed by Corcoran at $995,000.

18 months apart.

It takes time to renovate and it takes 37+ wks to make a baby.

Unless they had sextuplets, forced to sell because of financial reasons is much more likely.

Can we play nice-nice-nice here? It ain't pleasant to be forced to sell if you lose a job.

Don't tell me you are one of those who think we are hoping and praying that people lose their jobs and force to sell. The stats will either show up or it won't. If I buy pharma/biotech stocks, am I hoping and praying people get sick?

This one is in a slightly different category of misperception - call it 'not a profit after all'

250 East 87th Street, #6A. Junior 4 closed 15% above mid-2007 previous sale. Small profit after round-trip transaction costs. Likely not-so-small loss after the reno that is well described in the listing.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/533698-coop-250-east-87th-street-yorkville-new-york
07/03/2007 Previous Sale recorded for $705,000.
06/18/2010 Listed by Prudential Elliman at $850,000.
08/12/2010 Listing entered contract.
11/09/2010 Listing sold.
11/09/2010 Sale recorded for $810,000.

On the bright side for the seller, this looks like the highest ever trade in a line with a long transaction history. Add to that the low floor relative to previous sales and the performance of the market generally between 2007 and now, and it looks like the seller overcame the market movement and got part of the reno money back. Pretty good considering...