Weekend Open House Anecdotes 3/2

131 Thompson is a tiny 2BR, with great kitchen and living space. One closet for the ENTIRE apt, not the best light, 6th floor (with elevator though). But the maintenance is cheap and location is pretty great, so I think it's priced right.

874 Broadway was maybe the weirdest place I've ever seen. Huge studio with lofted sleeping in a great location but questionable building (as far as I can tell). Weird bathroom with 5 (5!) tp dispensers for some reason, and bare cement on the shower floor. The lofted area is small and in a cage-like contraption. With some imagination, work, and extra $ though, could be a really cool space. Not worth it to me though.

Both places had a pretty good turnout. About 10 people in the places when I was there (mid-afternoon). No one seemed to be dying to make any bids on the spot though.

I went to a couple of OH's downtown after a 3 week hiatus from looking and found that there's more traffic out there. Granted I didn't see any deals made while I was there but it seems to me like buyers are out there and they're not too worried about any recession.

People are out there with their monopoly money looking to buy,....

Yeah, all the open houses that I see are packed too. I'm looking in downtown Brooklyn/Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy.

Prices are rising.

Visited two three-bedroom apartments on West End Avenue in the low-mid 80's. Some traffic at each, not big crowds. Both were new offers (one Elliman listing around $2.45MM, one by-owner around $1.7MM). The first is a legit 3BR, the other is a nicely converted 2BR. No desperation visible, but the initial asking prices on both seemed to reflect the price-cutting that has been observable on older listings for several months now.

I saw 131 Thompson 6C and thought it was a dump. Dark, facing the next door building, floors needed refinishing and were uneven. The only pluses: location, elevator. The "bedroom" was carved out of the living room. The actual bedroom was a 8x8 box. Lots of lookers.

Some of the apartments that I visited last summer (central harlem, i must confess) had very (and I mean VERY, 20 or so people during the 40 minutes I was there) active open houses and the units are still on the market. There is a tremendous amount of pent-up demand in this market, many people have been priced out, and now that there may be some easing of pricing you're going to see alot of people hit the open houses. The next few months should be interesting.

I think people are curious to see whether or not prices have changed to reflect the current economic environment. There was an FSBO OH in my building on the UES this past weekend. I heard people in the elevator mumbling "You've got to be kidding" and "No wonder it hasn't sold." I'm thinking of selling my own place, but the sense I get from my neighbors is that a lot of people are just looking and really taking their time and being very nit-picky. What a difference a year makes!

I agree with a lot of what's been said here. Went to a couple of open houses in Brooklyn. I would say traffic was moderate to busy. Broker though are very quick to point out that prices are negotiable. I'm seeing units priced way too high, and I think sellers are intentionally pricing them (very) high knowing that they're not going to get asking. I guess it looks better to advertise high and accept a lower offer than admit that the market is not so good anymore. No one wants to be the first to start cutting.

It's always hard to know whether it's the right time to catch a falling boomerang.

But then when you've caught it, you feel so good . . .
And you've GOT it, and you can fling it back at will.
(Oops, what a lovely pun I just made.)

I'm both buying and selling, and so I am very, very interested and involved.
But what I really mean is: I'm selling, or trying to ----- and THEN I'm buying.
It's fun, but taxing.

We'd like to buy, too. We'd be glad to sell for less if we knew we could buy for less and I think that this is part stalemate situation.

(The one we need to sell is in Florida. We're back in the city after a change of mind about sunshine.)

Meanwhile, we're renting here and our first lease is up May 31. We're worried about an increase, (perhaps 10% based on what my neighbors in the building tell me) so my open house experience was at two midtown west rental buildings. 230 West 55th has its own website with 11 vacancies.
I thought it was no fee, but the agent showing the building at the open house wanted 15%. The $4695 apartment I went to look at will be $5695 - they're renovating. One other client while I was there - a mother with her daughter, perhaps, filling out paperwork for a one bedroom. The other building (159 West 53) is a condo with an agent renting one 2/1.5 for the owner. They want 15% fee, too. I was the only looker for the half hour or so I was there.

We've looked at a couple of things advertised by Abingdon, too. No fee, but not actually reasonable for what you get.

The open houses I've been to both in Manhattan UWS and Park Slope were not crowded. In some there were other people, in some we were the only visitors. Agree with an earlier poster that agents do say the price are negotiable (a 1.19 could be had for 1.05). One place fell through b/c a foreigner thought it was a condo and found out it was a co-op. Another fell through b/c the co-op board took 5 months to say no to the buyer.

cliff702, u mentioned 15% commission fee on rental apts u visited the agent did not mentioned when advertising an open house. i had the same experience this w.e at 2 separate places, both with Corcoran. Any of u know if this is negotiable with Corcoran? 15% of the year rent is very high for a one year lease.

Here's a clue to fee negotiability that one broker gave me: because I found the apartment on my own, without another broker bringing me to it, she could do one month's rent instead of 15%

For a real anger provoking experience, try responding to just about any "no fee" ad by any agency broker.
Just two experiences like that drove us right "by owner" picks on Craigslist - and even those are clogged up with broker offerings now.

CPNP, why not go directly to the building? Where are you looking? There are quite a few bigger buildings that have a rental office in them. They are definitely no fee.

I went to 2 open houses this weekend for 1 bedroom apartments in the Gramercy/Flatiron area. I came at the end of both and there had only been about 5-6 people ahead of me in the hour and a half or so that the open houses were happening.
One apt 10 W 15th street is really overpriced at 699K It's tiny with no closet space and needs a complete reno. The other at 42 East 16th was nice (good renos, pretty spacious) but the maintenance is a little high. They are asking $825K after 2 price cuts but I don't get the impression that it's running off the market at that price after speaking with my broker.

Thing is I really like one place we saw. The rent is very reasonable, even after u add all application fees and 15% commission fee (base rent is below 4,000 for a 2 bed on a high floor condo). After u saw a place shown by a brooker, i would assume it is too late to go directly to the building isn't it?
Also, does anyone know a decent landlord/tenant lawyer to take a look at an application and contract?

It is too late to go to the building (or the owner - you can find that information on propertyshark.com),
but if you really like it (like I liked one I saw), you might offer one month's rent as a fee. Also, if you get a two year lease at the same rent, that lowers the average monthly cost of the broker fee.

u're right. thank you. any lawyer tenant lawyer that could help?