Some bad luck? or a condo flip gone bad?

It's a sign of the times. I know of an estate-condition co-op that closed 5 months ago that is now back on the market (sans reno--not a lick of work has been done) asking - get this - 10% ABOVE the 9/08 purchase price.

Clearly a distress sale. (Though they must be smoking crack to think they're going to get anywhere near the asking price - they must have missed the memo that prices are have gone DOWN not UP.)

squid,

why is it 'clearly a distress sale'? if they were asking 20% below their closing price we could assume distress, but these people could be real estate investors who thought they saw a good deal. i don't think there is enough info on that unit to assume distress.

happy - my reason for assuming distress is not the asking price (which they simply will not get) but the fact that they're selling at all. Even if by some miracle they were able to achieve their asking price they would still lose a considerable amount of money on flip and mansion tax, transaction fees, etc.

Remember, this is a co-op, not an investment property. RE investors generally stay away from co-ops. And RE investors also generally don't bail without first renovating a property before trying to flip.

Nope - this has distress written all over it, sorry to say.

i'm not sure what apartment you are talking about, by the way. the only unit on the market in the san remo that i can find (i assume we are talking about the san remo, a there is no san reno in new york city) is a 1st floor unit that has been on the market for almost a year. can you send me a link to the apartment?

again, if it were a distress sale i would expect a different pricing strategy from the one you mentioned. something has clearly gone wrong with their plans--whatever those plans may have been--but that is different from a distress sale.

Happy -

Not 'San Remo'. I wrote 'sans reno' as in 'without renovations'. Therein lies the confusion...

Believe me, the apartment to which I am referring is indeed a distress sale. A true sign of the times, IMO.

LOL... sans reno, San Remo. Liked that.

And if in squid's example the asking is 10% over what was recently paid, I'd assume the sellers are prepared to take a hit and are pretty anxious to unload the place. By pricing 10% over they may be reasoning they'll end up selling at their orig. purchase price if lucky or 5-10% loss once negotiations are done. But with every economic indicator sliding daily, I think most currently listed properties will end up chasing the market downward each week they sit unsold.

If a seller has to sell today, I think the better course is to bite the bullet, set the offer price aggressively low, generate offers and get the deal done. I've said before, a good PR flack will tell you that when you have to eat sh-t, take big bites--don't nibble at it forever. In this declining market, too many sellers are nibbling at the sh-t and will find themselves chasing the market down with reduction after reduction month after month instead of just aggressively pricing the apartment for TODAY's conditions and getting the deal done. If you must sell now, price it 25-30% below peak and generate offers. Otherwise you are likely to join the pack of the 9500+ sellers currently trying to sell a Manh. apt.

Happyrenter: For somebody who supposedly left his heart in the Village, your head sure does seem stuck in the West 70s. :o)

Agreed, kyle. Plus, by pricing it above the recent sale price, they're actually making themselves appear desperate and out of touch with reality. Any buyer worth his or her salt will easily discover the recent sale price and bid accordingly. Rather than generate interest by setting a reasonable ask the seller has opened the door to extreme low-ball offers.

Better get out the knife and fork - this is one large steamer.

Looks like prices are dropping a lot in Maison East and there is a fair amount of availability. And talk about chasing the market down. Figure another 100k price chop is due for all of them in another month or so in keeping with the previous schedule...

1438 Third Avenue #2E
05/03/2007 Listed in StreetEasy by Elliman at $2,115,000
05/04/2008 Price decreased to $1,995,000
09/19/2008 Price decreased to $1,475,000
12/05/2008 Price decreased to $1,295,000

1438 Third Avenue #4B
02/16/2007 Listed in StreetEasy by Elliman at $1,635,000
03/23/2007 Price increased to $1,690,000
09/19/2008 Price decreased to $1,575,000
12/05/2008 Price decreased to $1,495,000

1438 Third Avenue #4A
04/04/2008 Listed in StreetEasy by Elliman at $799,000
09/19/2008 Price decreased to $785,000
12/05/2008 Price decreased to $695,000

$1800 a month in carry cost and taxes at Maison East for the cheapest one bedroom? No wonder no one is moving on that. To rent something like that it would probably run you barely $2800 if that.

after mortgaging $150k you are break even on a rental.

I'm shocked at the carrying cost also. No idea why it is so high considering the lack of amenities in the building.