Sale at 320 East 57th Street #4A

NWT: I hope that's not the apartment of Suzie O's friend.
I saw them getting out of a cab last year.
Suzie was very nice to the doorman.

I was in a hurry, or I would have stopped to kibbitz with her.

would that be before or after you sued her?

Suzie would have a field day with this. Let's imagine it on TV.

Suzie: Here's our next caller.

MG: Suzie, I'm a graduate of NYU's school of business and am employed in finance, yet managed to flush $90K down the crapper because I skipped the Personal Finance course in junior high. Did you read that decision?

Suzie: Yes, and I'm still trembling. NINETY THOUSAND DOLLARS, more than the typical life savings of the rubes I'm usually screaming at, and you just GAVE IT AWAY?!?!? You just ASSUMED there was AC, in New York City of all places, and ASSUMED the words in the contract had no particular meaning, and proceeded to piss away NINETY THOUSAND DOLLARS?!?!?! And then cluttered our court system with your whining?!?! And then call ME!?!?

MG: Well, uh, yeah....

Suzie: Bye.

NWT: Oh, I really hope it's not Suzie's friends' apartment.

DENIED!!!!
Oh, you put down a deposit?
SCREWED!!!

Oh, if Suzie knows the sellers she's happy for them. $90,000 for doing nothing except getting lucky. How often does a live one like MG turn up? Someone who thinks there could be nothing wrong with a 2/2 on East 57th asking only $940K with $2200 maintenance.

Not so great. No dimensions and it seems you need to walk through the 2nd bedroom to get to the bathroom. That stinks

so i guess buying a portable a/c on Amazon taking <15 mins to set up wasn't a viable option? yeesh.

I'm a little bit sympathetic to the plaintiffs on this, since I think the selling brokers should have done a better job of answering the air conditioning question by explaining exactly what was included and what couldn't be done. Even if that was not the exact letter of the question, it's not a huge leap to figure out what the buyers' intent in asking the question was.

However, it does finally come down to due diligence -- it sounds like their friend was worse than useless -- and what did their atty do exactly? -- not tell them about the 57th street regulations (which are surely findable) -- and not even write the existing window units into the contract.

It's a good argument for using a buyer's broker who knows what he or she is doing.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

And what portion of the 90K went to the seller's attorneys? There were no winners in this mess and should finally illustrate why a buyer's broker as stated by front-porch is a first priority.

Is this AC problem true for all of the units in the building? It seems there are a lot of units for sale in this building, especially in this "A" line that nobody seems to be able to unload. Anyone have any insight into the board, the neighborhood? Imagine it must get really noisy b/c of the Queensboro entrance across the street and not sure what the construction of the school/Whole Foods and 2nd Avenue subway will mean for the nabe in the next few years.

Either way, it seems like 4A pricing is aspirational considering higher floors sold for less the past year and 13A is only a tad more in asking and doesn't have the hideous view and actually has a wood burning fireplace.

One reads a case like this and feels a bit sorry for the buyers, although the law is decidedly against them. I am successfully resisting the urge to sneer at them. They may have been naive and inexperienced, it sounds as though they had bad advice and it's an expensive way to learn not to trust anyone.

No one wins with this decision, including the seller and the seller's broker. The apartment is still for sale and all the sordid details are now online for the world to see. Mediation might have been a better route. I wonder if there were any attempts to settle this before it got out of hand.

I also couldn't help remembering all the other fraud cases posted on SE over the years in which a Corcoran broker was accused of not playing nicely with the other children. Hmmm..... BUT, as we know, the buyer is responsible for investigating the seller's claims. I suppose the buyers will have to go after the guy they hired to do the due diligence. More billable hours for all.

wow. i hadn't seen this thread when i visited the apt this afternoon. it wasn't my first rodeo so i asked the broker about the lack of cooling system in the living room. she proceeded to tell me i could put units in the window but not through the wall. i personally think window units are unpleasant and said as much. she reiterated that due to the building code wall units aren't an option and even gave some recommendations about which window and what part of the window i could put a unit. surely she knew she was lying to my face. shame on her.

I saw that apartment last Summer.. It was verrrrry hottttt. Needs AC Baaddly .. Was told the same think buy a very incompetent broker... never imagined they were lying.. And, I immediately assume they all are.. wow. Karma. The broker and owner will get theirs... 2a on the mkt since May and can't sell at $800k.. that's $640 PSF ... cam you say $500psf!!!!!!!!!

>MG: Suzie, I'm a graduate of NYU's school of business and am employed in finance, yet managed to flush $90K down the crapper <

lol, NWT!

Better late than never...found this thread over the weekend and after our initial surprise, we decided it best to post something to set the record straight without getting into the details of the lawsuit.

We are the sellers of 4A and as an earlier poster mentioned, no one really wins when someone walks away from a sales contract.

� The apartment has thru wall air conditioning in the master bedroom.

� The apartment has a window unit in the second bedroom.

� A window unit can be installed with board approval in the living room. Many have been previously approved as evident from looking at the facade of the building. We lived there for 9 years and never felt the need to do so. However, to assist in the sales process, we intend to get board approval for the window air conditioner even though we don%u2019t feel it is necessary.

� We cannot vouch for the square footage, but our broker did retain a third party measurement group to provide a number %u2013 which was 1,250 sq feet. Our broker is happy to supply a copy to a prospective buyer.

� Agree with one poster who said they can%u2019t believe how cheap the building is per square foot %u2013 neither can we nor can our board. Many of the recent sales have either been estate sales and/or needed gut renovations. Quite frankly, if we could purchase our neighbor's apartment and combine, we would stay for the building, neighbors and location, but no such luck.

Hope this helps.

An update: The buyers who lost their $90K deposit, and then sued the sellers to get it back, lost that case and an appeal. Then they went and sued Corcoran. That case was thrown out too.