Pricing by Floor

See http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/30805-pricing-condo-on-high-floor

Thank you!

You may find some value in the thoughts posted in these threads. There are other threads, but I can't find them.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/16445-value-floor-differential

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/29523-price-differential-per-floor

NY Magazine also recently did a feature on this:
http://nymag.com/realestate/features/high-rise-appraisals-2012-4/
http://nymag.com/realestate/features/high-rises-2012-4/

Thank you all for the information. I am primarily concerned with pricing differences for a ground/1st floor apartment vs higher floors. The apt I am looking at is ground floor and does not have a terrace. There are comps available for higher floors with a terrace (not neccessarily a better view, just not on the ground floor). The sellers seem to think it is ridiculous for their apartment to be selling at a steep discount vs. the higher floors.

Interested in a walk-up? There's a big discount in it for you if you don't mind climbing stairs. Figures are from 2008:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/realestate/11cov.html?pagewanted=all

(I'd happily live in a walk-up again -- I lived in a 4th-floor walk-up for six years and it was really no big deal. With a baby stroller, though; that might be a challenge.)

then let them sit there and wait for someone to come in and buy their undesirable asset at inflated prices.... wait, this isn't 2007 anymore. reality will set in at some point when they will become desparate

search "ground floor" in discussion for many threads about this.

per normal appraisals, it is normally only 10k per floor differential.

ground floor = easy access for rats, IMHO.

streak... it's 10K per floor after you get to 3 floor in mid/hirise buildings. walkups work differently. the discount is also different if it is a high first floor (ie 5/10 steps up).

Does anyone seriously have rats in their ground floor building? If so, that is more a problem with the building than being on the ground floor.

Not entirely Bob, all it takes is minimal access.
Ive probably seen more in soho than anywhere else, but the point is indoors and ground floor so with that I have 3 stories.

1) I live in a pretty clean but old building and one day taking the stairs down as I got to the ground floor I saw a mouse not a rat go shoot across from one impossible corner to another.

2) Grabbing a coffee at the coffee shop called Cafe Cafe on greene by broome saw a baby rat run across the length of the store.

3) My friend just moved into a ground floor apartment which is about about 6 steps above street level and is flipping out after seeing a mouse exit the apartment somewhere around his radiator heating. Sleeping with a broom and very miserable. I was going to buy some rubber mice and rabbit food (pellets) for a laugh but it's way past funny for him.

Barring some absolutely stellar fabulous backyard, I would never live in a ground floor manhattan apt.

Interesting. I live in a ground floor apartment and the only problem I ever have is a few ants in the the spring and then they are gone. But that is because I leave the door open to the back patio open all the time.

If there are mice in the basement and ground floor, there is a good chance they are throughout the building. I once had a 5th floor rental with a small hole behind the stove. Caught mice round the clock until the super patched it. Never saw another mouse again.

A lot of factors to consider in the original question. I think there is less "standard" in this subject than pricing outdoor space.

WHat neighborhood? Neighboring buildings? views? etc. 10th floor isnt so wonderful in midtown east but the 6th floor in a neighborhood where every building is 4 and 5 floors is huge.
I think you'll find substancial price changes in clumps, often depending on what I mentioned above.

1st floor other than walkup buildings take a big hit. For vermin, bugs, water, security, light, noise, etc. Then your next mini leap comes around floors 4 thru 7. Then probably again floors 12 and above.

For me, past the 35th floor becomes weird and uncomfortable, just feelings of being ungrounded. But that's just personal.

bob, both stories manhattan?

Yup.

If you are at back of the building with plenty of light and no security and privacy issues (doorman building for example), first floor should not be at more than 10% discount to second floor. However, if you are facing the street and are at street level, I would say at least 25% discount vs second floor as you have no privacy.

Does pricing by floor change during natural disasters or crime waves?

10% is a big number from ground to 2nd floor. In fact, there are many people that would rather have ground floor than 2nd floor. Given the criteria you listed for only being 10%, I don't think there is much difference between any floor until you start seeing over neighboring buildings and have better light. I would never pay much more for a 3rd floor over ground floor if the facing building was 4 stories.

I would say at least 10%. Ground floor apt are usually dark and loud. 2nd and 3rd floor difference is quite large too but much smaller than this.

Bob since you bot one, rather than telling us what you think, tell us how much you paid compared to higher floor apts in your building.

I can't really compare to any other apartments in my building because I have a large private outdoor space. But being in the back of the building, there is no noise difference between my apartment and any of the others. There are no security concerns. The only real difference in light starts when the apts clear the facing building. I wouldn't pay a premium for any apartment in my building that was not higher than the facing building over the basic ground floor. Any slight perceived value would be offset by the fact that you have to take elevator/stairs.