Should I walk from my deposit?

It seems like sad_in_contract is still "settling" for this apartment rather than this being his first choice, or even close to his first choice. (If this is where exactly I wanna be and I can easily afford it, why even ask the question?) So he's asking whether to buy this apartment and stick it out for 7 years which was the original plan when they first signed the contract and that made sense then because a better apartment in a more desirable location is out of their budget. Or should they forfeit this apartment because they think it will take less time for them to get a better apartment with the way the market is going? Should you trade up sooner than later? I don't know if anyone can accurately answer that.

When you feel like the prices keep going up, you tend to settle and an okay unit looks good. Now an okay unit just looks overpriced, and the bad unit really looks bad and way overpriced. Then you start thinking about these points by farquhar:

"Think about it - by signing on and "saving" the $75K, the owner is slave to his/her apartment as long as it is underwater, which could be a very very long time. During this time, without the owner cannot (i) sell without a loss, (ii) refi without significant additional equity, (iii) buy a cheaper apartment, etc., because of the albatross that is now a grossly overpriced apartment. This may even limit their flexibility in a number of life decisions (whether to move for job/family/lifestyle reasons). "

In this climate, we realized that we will have to wait for that apartment that we could really be happy about and which we really want. Otherwise, there's so so much flexiblility if we so choose to rent because nothing is tying us down. Accepting foreign assignments for experience and career advancement is now in our realm of possibilities. Earlier last year, we're so gung-ho to get a place, now we become open to renting, which made us realize we can do other things in the meantime...and we still have the downpayment money. I'm telling ya -- the sellers will have to make their property worth it.

Thanks again for the good wishes – I don’t know if I’m closer to making a decision but this discussion has helped me to stop hyperventilating. Cleanslate – interesting point about settling vs. first choice. My first choice would be a townhouse in West Village with a backyard. I know it’s not gonna happen. I think living in New York will always be a compromise.

If you're in contract at 20 Pine you can get out. Email getmeoutof20pine@gmail.com for info. Contract isn't as airtight as "Shvomelgreen" would like it to be.

Contact No-Condo.com attorneys because they are experts in getting purchasers out of their condo contracts - including 20 Pine.

http://www.no-condo.com

sad_in_contract - how are things working out? We are in a similar situation in LIC and would love to trade notes (you could do this anonymously if you prefer - just create an email account under an alias and contact me). My email address is josh.tierney08@gmail.com - please get in touch.

pjc - I would also like to be in touch with you to see if/how you were able to recover some/all of your deposit; we have some ideas that may help, as well - please contact me at the email address above.

mdasch - I am curious how you made out, as well - any luck recovering your deposit (some or all)?

Thanks all - great thread - we are in the same boat and it is very difficult/stressful, though we'll get through it. Any help/suggestions about getting out of the contract or success stories on being able to negotiate some concessions would be greatly appreciated.

josh123- did anyone have luck with www.no-condo.com??

Sad-in-contract, and everyone else who were in same boat, what did you guys end up doing?

You don't have to ask but just look at public record to see what happened to those who bought/didn't buy in LIC seven years ago.