Is this a deal?

My guess is that they split the original listing back into two units, and that the change in sf didn't post to SE:
http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/360007-coop-240-east-55th-street-sutton-place-new-york

I actually doubt that they actually split the unit back into two units and if they did, they are screwing themselves.

First, two under-600 square foot apartments are going to have a tougher time going than one large 1,200 place. You have to find TWO buyers and have destoryed a nice space to make what really is two small studio spaces. That would be an absolute nightmare.

Second, they actually have the nerve to INCREASE the sq. ft. price of the two units compared to the first large unit? I don't think people pay more for smaller spaces... Who are they kidding?

I actually think this might be a real price decrease and a distressed sale of some sort. But I guess we'll see.

IMO, that maintenance is sky high for such a space...

this looks like a distressed sale. Maint is high, but clearly its priced in at this level. I think this will sell and I think the price reflects the negatives mentioned. People pay less for smaller spaces, in general.

So, at least a few foreclosures, short sales and REO sales coming to a formerly prime Manhattan neighborhood near you...!

Easy there, Trompiloco!
Let's take a look at the listing history. Listed, then pulled from the market:
http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/245786-coop-240-east-55th-street-sutton-place-new-york
then combined with another unit:
http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/360007-coop-240-east-55th-street-sutton-place-new-york
then split it again:
http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/370616-coop-240-east-55th-street-sutton-place-new-york

Also, UD - is this the sort of advice you'll be charging $200/hour for?

I don't get the focus on psf price given the floorplan. How is this unit 1200 sf?

ali r.
{downtown broker}

the elliman.com webad says 1200 sft, 2BR/2BTH and major price reduction. Floorplan is obviously messedup and not the combo. But if the elliman webad states 1200 sft, then she entered the update into the internal system that way, and that seems to be a very bad mistake if both the 2nd bath and the square footage were not updated with the correct price reduction for only one of the units.

Tina why dont you pay me $200 and find out. Actually I outsource my consulting to Madoff Ralty

Noah - I'm just teasing you. But I think the ad is misleading in some way, perhaps purposely, although it could be a simple error on the broker's part. If anyone is truly interested I'd be happy to contact the listing agent and find out. In any case, I think the Madoff analogy is a good one - this ad looks too good to be true, therefore it probably is. So we shouldn't be drawing conclusions from it.

Honestly, my guess is that the advert. is real and the broker is smart. If these people need to sell, price it provocatively. This is a ho-hum unit, ho-hum, neighborhood, ho-hum building, low-quality finishes, and high maintenance. In this market the only way to sell something like this is to undercut the competition. If the neighborhood were just ever so slightly better I would be willing to take a look at it.

Egg on my face--it's fake. Just called the broker.

really? So its a mistake?

this is a pretty bad error! If this was my mistake, my seller would be plenty pissed

the floorplan is accurate, not the description. it's now a 790 square foot convertible 2 bedroom/1 bathroom.

so the bathroom, the sq footage, the maint is all wrong; but floorplan is right. Crazy.

Did the listing agent fix it yet?
Or are they just using it to generate leads?
Bad agent if they did not fix the description yet. Nice attention, Tina.