Open House Anecdotes 3/15-16?

went to 211 e 51st.. a condo conversion.

Good amount of traffic, It was the first open house.. I could not really tell who were buyers and who were simply agents. Construction of 2 building directly opposite, not much light overrall. Finishes/paint appeared cheap but I really have nothing to compare with. Prices seemed too high esp for a conversion

800 West End Avenue 10C: Classic six, on the large side (~1800 sq. ft.), in an old-fashioned, full-service co-op that's very handsome but lacks modern amenities. Priced under $2MM - around $1100/sq.ft - reflecting original (and I mean REALLY original) kitchen, maid's room and baths. Nice layout if you like traditional separation between spaces; a big chunk of the footprint is occupied by the central gallery, which is a bit of a waste. Semi-private landing, and the apartment itself seemed quiet too.

Speaking of quiet, traffic seemed light - maybe ten names on the list in the first hour and a quarter. I had the agent to myself during the ten minutes I was there, though there were lookers just before and just after me. For what it's worth, she seemed nice, and knew the apartment well.

By the way, there might be a little price war brewing down the street at 755 WEA. Three 2BRs on low floors had open houses today, all priced around $1.6MM. That could be an opportunity for an astute buyer, now that the balance of power seems to be shifting to the buy side.

I saw 2 King Street, 5B. 775K. I got there just as it started and there were 2 others waiting to look. Looked a lot smaller in person. Had a cute view of the Empire State Building from the BR but the BR was also facing 6th avenue...very noisy even with the double paned windows closed. No thanks...

87 E. 2nd Str. 4C. 875K. I got there about 45 min into the OH and there was one looky-loo (i.e. someone who was not a buyer but "looking for a friend") and I was only the second name on the list. Nice layout, quoted at 800 sq feet, but this seemed high (more like 700?). Also just a stone's throw from 1st ave, but not too noisy with the windows closed. Views not so nice (a spa/massage parlor and McD's sign) but the building was well maintained, it seemed. Definitely NOT worth the asking. But worth considering if they got it below 800K...

Saw two downtown

32 Gramercy Park South - nice wide living room, pleasant view of townhouses, seemed reasonably priced for the space (haven't checked on building comps yet). Maintenance was a little high. The apartment was also decorated in a pretty taste-specific way (moldings, finishes etc.) I went on the early side - I think one other person had seen it.

111 4th - good sized 1 bedroom (real bedroom, not loft) needing some work in the kitchen and new floors, maybe. The price had come down a lot and was more reasonably priced than others for sale in the building, but the views were not very nice. A few people had signed in before me. The broker said they were currently seeing a 5-10% correction happening in the mkt.

342 W 21st 6B. The apt # wasn't advertised, and when I arrived at the walk-up building and saw 6B on the card I knew why. Dealbreaker for me, but I figured I'd take a look. It's a prewar building, and there are signs of age in the apartment. You might want to strip or replace the doors and moldings if some layers of paint bother you, but the windowed kitchen was very nicely renovated with room to eat in. The bathroom wasn't fancy, but it was all in good shape. Not new, but fine. It's a small place, but the living room and bedroom were well proportioned, though the bedroom has no closet; one's in the adjacent hallway, and another's near the entrance. The place is cute overall, and the upside to the hike is great light and views. The surrounding buildings are mostly 3 or 4 story, and the br/lr are in the back, so you get rooftop and courtyard/garden views w/ no street noise. At $569k for about 500 sf in a 6-floor walkup they're out of their minds, but if I was an exercise buff (I know a few who love their high floor walkups), I'd keep my eye out for the inevitable major price chops, or make a much lower offer. 6 on the sheet before me towards the end. The broker was pleasant enough, but he handed me information on another open house he was holding in the neighborhood. If I was the seller I’d be pissed.

295 W 11th St 6-L. I’ve seen some other 1brs in this building, and they’ve all been tiny like this one, with the kitchen in the LR and the bathroom off the BR. Not for me at all, but there were no pix or floorplans in the Times ad (it’s not on StreetEasy) so I checked it out just in case. The claim is 500 sf, but the floorplan gives me 275, not including the average-sized bathroom. At this point I’m wondering why I’m still typing. The living room has an open view w/ a major detraction, the large vent coming up to the roof from the restaurant below. It’s also noisy. There’s a kids park outside the window, you can hear them clearly. I suppose that’s heartwarming or distracting, depending on your perspective. A unit with similar layout issues but a much, much better reno and no large vent was a Times listing for ages at $625. I don’t know what happened to it. Asking $625 for this w/ a $735 maint is insanity, prime West Village or not. I was there pretty early. Not much on the sign-in sheet but there was still a lot of time left.

With all that's going on in the financial world right now, and you're worried about "anecdotes"?

That's hard to believe.

Easy, Steve. I'm reading the other threads. No reason we can't share campfire stories in the meantime. Believe me, I'm not the least bit "worried" about these anecdotes.

Good point, tenemental. You win!

Saw several apartments in Turtle Bay on Sunday. There were many people out viewing. It was near the crane collapse so not sure if that helped or hurt the showings. Favorite building was 310 East 46th. Several of the apartements were very nice. The building is in great shape. New lobby, floors and elevators. All apartments had ceilings roughly 12-14 feet. Maintenance in the building is a little high, but i spoke to some owners in the building and all seemed to love the bldg and staff. Anyway, going to schedule an appt to see one of them again. Supposedly there is a great view of the Pepsi sign in Queens at night.16H. 960 Sq ft, asking 815K. Great light. Hoping for an evening appt. Good luck to other house hunters out there

Be careful about 310 East 46th. I know people who like the building's bones, but it is a cond-op - hence the high maintenance...

cond-op hence high maintenance.
Buster not sure why all cond-op's automatically fall in the category of high maintenance. Can you elaborate

The warning was more about the problematic valuation proposition for cond-ops, and high maintenance is usually a symptom of the disease...

Not all condops do, but many have higher maintenance. You are leasing the land from the landowner (instead of paying off an underlying mortgage), so when the lease is up, the building is a bit of a captive tenant and is not well-positioned to negotiate good terms. Even if maintenance is reasonable, there is a lot of uncertainty about maintenance once the lease expires. Generally, the closer to lease expiration, the more you will have to discount valuation to attract buyers which is why buying one is usually discouraged.

So in other words buster you beleive that all cond-ops are land leased? How did you come to that conclusion?

Yeah, basically. If you want to be difficult, it can also refer to co-ops with relaxed rules or a co-op of a condo unit that is the entire residential portion of a building... Did you double down on C and MER today? Not trying to get in a cheap dig, just wishing to take a curious peek into the mind of Spunky!!

Let's not get defensive Buster just curious how you came to the conclusion that a Cond-op is a land leased building. And yes I own C, Mer and have been dollar cost averaging the mutual funds that almost mimic the San P for over the past decade. You see Buster C and Mer are a very very small portion of my portfolio (less than 1%). I also own several properties in Manhattan and will continue to buy other properties as the opportunities present themselves. Now getting back to my original question you stated that with Cond-ops you are leasing the land from the landowner (instead of paying off an underlying mortgage), so when the lease is up, the building is a bit of a captive tenant and is not well-positioned to negotiate good terms.
All I am asking Buster where you came to the conclusion that all Cond-ops are land leased?

Not being defensive! Just curious!!

Please buster just answer the question you stated all Cond-ops are land leased please explain how you came to that conclusion.

Spunkster, I miss you!

But you're right, cond-ops are not all ground leases (the correct term of art). Nor are they necessarily captive tenants because it depends on the terms of the ground lease - if it's for 999 years, who cares? If the terms of future increases are built in, there is no risk. If there's a purchase option after a certain number of years, that reduces risk, too.

However, this has nothing to do with open houses, none of which did I attend. Just thought I'd add some clarification.

I did not state that, Spunkster, but even if I implied it, I attempted to clarify and Stevejhx also clarified (and although I agree with some of what he says, many buyers avoid ground leases like the plague regardless of mitigating factors, so there are negative valuation implications on the exit side). So Spunky, pray tell, why are you so concerned? Are you the condop anti-defamation league president? Please explain!!

buster2056, I would NEVER buy a ground lease. I just attempted to explain how they work.

BPC is a ground lease, and pricey.