35 east 85th street apartment 3A

Directly adjacent to a dry cleaning facility is not an issue at all, and it won't cause cancer. The only issue with this listing is the price. If it is 1.5mm it will sell within a week.

It could be a lot of things, but certainly that the same unit on the 10th floor was asking less money is kind of a guarantee of not selling. Also they say in the description "Additional features include a windowed kitchen with custom wood cabinetry and top-of-the-line appliances and a washer and dryer" but there is no picture and the other pics don't show any indication of any "top-of-the-line" anything. I think this unit will be a good example of "chasing the market down."

Anton, for an apartment that is about 1475 sqft, what do you think the market value is here? 1.5 million?

30yrs_RE_20_in_REO - What do you mean by this unit will be a good example of "chasing the market down?"

Came on at too high a price and every time there is a price reduction the market has already decreased again.

thank you 30yrs_RE_20_in_REO. what would you value this unit at? 1.5m?

I would have to actually see this unit and 10A becauseI don't think either one has pictures good enough to tell you what they really are. I would also have to go and look and see about that dry cleaner you mentioned. Lastly I would have to get an idea of exactly the impact of being on the third floor facing Madison Avenue some apartments would be impacted more than others and you don't know till you're in the unit.
at one time I was representing a seller at 69 West 9th Street on the second floor facing both 9th Street and 6th Avenue. they spent a lot of money on soundproof windows and you couldn't hear a thing from the street. But everybody walked in looked out the windows and said "it's too noisy" even though you couldn't hear a thing. Last time I checked, the doctor who I sold it to was still smoking his cigars outside the building over 25 years later, so it probably couldn't really be that bad.

Madison avenue is very busy and noisy

A broker once shared to deduct/add 50k per floor.

eg: 3A = 1.5m, 4A = 1.55m, 5A = 1.6m, 6A = 1.65m, 7A = 1.7m, 8A = 1.75m, 9A = 1.8m, 10A = 1.85m

Is this true in this current market?

It is highly dependent on how tall is the building on the other side of the street (from the natural light point of view), on change in the views and how high priced the apartments are in $ per sq ft. If all apartments are facing a 20 story tall building, I do not think the difference will be that much.

I think that is very much an overgeneralization. First it would depend on unit size: certainly the difference would be greater for a larger unit than a smaller unit. Second there are big differences on certain floors: obviously big deduction for first floor, or second floor facing a busy Street, but difference between a 26th and 27th floor with essentially the same view? Also big difference at a "break floor" (the floor at which you clear the nearest building, or another building where the view substantially changes - like on WEA where you first get a River view). Also bigger deduction for floors directly above commercial spaces, especially bars/restaurants.

My broker told me 10k per floor.

Stache, 10k per floor is not a meaningful differential. A difference in 10 floors is not usually only a 100k difference in price

10k in my opinion is actually a good place to start. Then you need to make adjustments based on the actual view. Meaning a 4th floor apartment v. a 10th floor apartment with open views clearing any buildings in front of it. The spread should probably be greater.

But is there really a big premium floor 20 vs floor 30? if I put you on the 20th floor and the 30th floor you probably couldn't tell the difference in most high rises.

It's a process of art and math, current market etc. Not so black-and-white except perhaps in a new development.

Keith Burkhardt
TBG

Any I know of buildings where Penthouse floor may trade at a discount to the lower floors per square ft as initial common interest allocation relative to square footage for Penthouses is too high resulting in excessive taxes and CC.

And leaking

Is nicesmile is on an apartment hunt in Carnegie Hill? We haven't had a good one of those in years (taxibutton was last I recall). Please keep the questions coming. I feel like anyone who has the financial stability to commit for the long haul and is prepared to renovate is in a great spot right now.

MCR,
I agree - that is probably the softest spot in the market right now. My advice would be to pick the apartment you can get the best deal on rather than the one you wanted the most. Make low offers on a bunch of units which are having trouble moving and see which one you can cull from the heard. Just be careful you are't buying one with some fatal defect which will always make it a very difficult sell even when the market is good.

30, If you are looking in a soft market segment, why not get the apartment you really like in that segment rather than get additional 10 percent off on a relative basis on some apartment you do not like as much. Of course, assuming you can afford both.

Who says the difference is only 10%?

In that case you are likely getting a clearly worse property. Manhattan market is inefficient (call it bid offer) in affordable segment in appx 10 percent range in the current market but not much more (ultra luxury who knows - it could be 30 percent). At least that is what I see in the current market. At the peak of recession in 2009, my estimate of bid offer was 20 percent.

I know a number of people who are currently taking advantage of the renovation spread and as many contractors have lost significant business due to the recent changes in Rent Stabilization decreases in renovation costs will open up profit opportunities to more people willing to take the discount and do a project arbitraging the concurrent increase in discount for renovations and decrease in renovation costs.

Let me be clear: in the current market most of what is on the market is unrealistically overpriced. So if you go looking for apartments and find the one you like and then try to buy it, even if you can negotiate what might seem to be a reasonable amount off of the asking price there is a good chance that you will still be overpaying. At the same time not only has the market been slow, but we just entered what is historically one of the slowest times of the year. As such there is a good chance that if someone needs to sell, even if they drop their price to market or slightly below, and especially if they inhabit a part of the market which is lagging, that they won't find a buyer and will need to give an extraordinary discount in order to transact. As such, finding such units can yield premium discounts, as opposed to picking the one you like and paying whatever it takes to get it.
This is very different than in a hot market where everything is transacting and no one (or almost no one) gets desperate and needs to take that haircut.

Urbandigs resale data continue to show improvement in sales which is a clear sign of stabilization. Market pulse at .46. Pending sales running roughly 6-8 percent higher YOY. Transfer tax related pending sales are out of pending sale data by now.

In my experience, construction material price increases are more than offsetting any labor cost decrease. Laticrete waterproofing up 15 percent in one year as an example.

I have been getting calls from my low priced internet suppliers about price increases of 10-20 percent. They claim it is tariff related but that is a small part of it.

AC equipment up at least 10 percent, plumbing pipes / connectors up 15-20 percent.

Example of "break floor":

https://streeteasy.com/sale/1363685

vs

https://streeteasy.com/building/755-west-end-avenue-new_york/12c

I guess it's a good idea my building did lots of improvements before this trade war.

wonder what this was really worth... guess this did not sell in 4 years (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) - something must have been wrong with it

Are Low floor UES apartments are this undesirable?

Nothing wrong with the apartment. could be something wrong with building management, otherwise purely pricing issue

Anton - what price would get this sold?

nicesmile, as I said, it will sell in a month if asking is $2mm, and it will sell in a week if asking is $1.5mm

But if the management/board is as5hole, then another story

pulled from the market... no one interested at near/over 2m

nicesmile, they suspect you bought one of the properties you discussed before, please clarify =:)

No, I did not buy any of those properties. In contract on a property, will mention more once closing happens.

Regarding this property - I spoke with the seller's broker and they sellers actually wanted 2.3m-plus, not flexible. They don't care what the market is - nor that amount is way over market. The sellers want what they want and they will hold otherwise, until the market turns around - if ever.

I doubt that the market will turn around within the next 5 to 7 years on mid-century construction UES co-ops without any amenities - such as gym, conference room, outdoor space, playroom for children, etc, which this building does not have. This unit in particular will become less desirable over time - it was last renovated approximately in 2000, and needs a full renovation. The other drawbacks include low floor (will never change), tiny kitchen (will never change), and tiny dining room (will never change).

As Anton and others mentioned - almost all units have a price that will facilitate trading - this unit is an asset that appears to be in free fall due to the decreased desirability of the asset.

Congratulations on going into contract. Was it a low floor unit needing some work on which you got a nice deal?

it is a detached house in brooklyn that needs work. no deals (in contract at full ask), but nice house :)

Congratulations!! Sounds great.

thank you for your support 300