10/26 Open Houses

Open houses?? Are you kidding me? Not too many of these days left - who wants to catch a falling knife when its sunny and 65...

Bremlig are you a broker? Do you know anything about subletting in a co-op bldg in terms of the time frame that most boards take to look at a package before scheudling an interview to meet the perspective tenant? thanks for any info

Nope but going to see a place on Tuesday. When that one and the one next doors (which is also for sale) are available for the larger one's current asking price, then I'll consider it!

No. Boycotting. Don't want to perpetuate hope in the minds of brokers by bolstering their numbers.

Looks like we will have to depend on West 81st for the latest news on grossly overpriced UWS apartments.

I happened to walk by a sign for an open house at 126 W. 73rd, 9B (http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/347611-coop-126-west-73rd-street-upper-west-side-new-york) on my way to Central Park, so I stopped in. It was within the first half hour of the open house, there were 5 or 6 names on the sign in sheet, and two couples came in while I was there. Based on what I've been reading on this site about open house traffic, I was surprised at the high turnout.

9B has just been renovated and all the finishes are very nice. I also loved the high ceilings, the strong light and open views. Still - that is one hell of a tiny one bedroom apartment. I've lived in bigger studios. Although the floor plans shows a width of more than 11 feet, I bet you it's 9 feet at best. Now, if you were to combine two 1-BR apartments in that building, you could come up with something special. But I'm sure the maintenance would be too high - at $1205 a month, the maintenance for 9B is already a good chunk of change. Also - the elevator in that building is tiny! I can't imagine any furniture bigger than a coffee table fitting in it.

Finally, the asking price, $625,000, is down $60,000 from May, but still seems high. 3B sold earlier this year for less than $500,000, although I don't know whether it was in similar condition.

OnTheMove, keep in side that this is (a) a sponsor sale, and (b) on the UWS gold coast, so the apartment must be worth at least 30% more than you would think.

Hi, kgg. I've been to a few in recent weeks. Haven't had time to do full reviews.

- I revisisted 817 WEA, just to see how it's coming along. The building is still a mess, and the sponsor-renovated units are so bland and inefficient that parts of the reno will probably have to be redone. In the unrenovated units, the layouts are challenging and many of the apartments seem to be quite dark.

- I saw the eight-into-seven on the top floor of 255 West 84th. You may have read about the structural problems on the roof of the Alameda, which has been wrapped up like a Christo installation for ages. Well, this unit is at ground zero. It's a nice apartment (though it needs updating), and it's not egregiously priced, relative to comps. But I'm not sure I'd want to live there regardless of the price, especially with children.

- I dropped by the rear-facing duplex at 6-16 West 77th, just to see if it was as absurdly overpriced as it looked, even after a 10% cut. Sure enough, it is.

Hi. I'm a glutton for punishment but just can't seem to go any more. Perhaps when the weather gets crummier. This market is going to get hammered. Prime UWS not as much as some parts of the city but we are entering a whole new economic reality.

I saw one today, we were out looking at rentals anyway, and it was nearby. Broker said sign-in sheet was from multiple days, so I couldn't tell traffic, although there was one other couple there same time as us.

Broker seemed to contradict herself at every turn - talking about how busy she's been, an apartment she listed monday that sold Thursday, then how much interest there was in this apartment, but the sellers are very anxious to sell (estate sale), price is very negotiable (this after several large price chops alreadu). Sad scene seems to describe it well.

Re: 126 West 73rd. I saw it a few months ago when it was being marketed by Citihabitats, while I like the Neogothic architecure of the building, the lay out is terrible. In the 600-700k range 1brdms there are a number on West 72nd that I like better and with better layouts.

I went to one at listen to this...I actually felt sorry for the broker. It was obviously over-priced by at least 25%. He acknowledged it and then said..."Well, we work for the seller so...". In other words some idiot gave them the listing and demanded a ridiculous listing price. I guess these folks feel they must take the listing just so they have something to fill their days. The prospects for any income in the next six months, as long as sellers are setting the listing prices, are fairly dim.

Re: 126 West 73rd

Cool building. Nice location.

Check out 4a. Sold last month for $475k. Now listed at $610K. Talk about optimism. Maybe Perfitz is flipping it.

kgg: If you click on the link to 4A, you end up at a listing for 4C. So it's a different apartment. 4C (which makes me feel claustrophobic just looking at the pictures!) sold for $375K in 2004.