How were open houses today?

I Wish I was out there looking, instead stuck in the office :(

dead

Decent activity at 760 WEA and 825 WEA. 760 showed reasonably well, so the traffic might translate into real interest. Everything else I saw was fairly quiet. Based on the mood at today's showings, I think prices are about to drop again at 771 WEA, a building I like. There's too much direct competition within lines, and even the lower-priced units aren't generating much excitement.

I also saw 760 WEA today. I liked it, nice light and views, did show well. Also went to 755 WEA, 3B, very similar amount of space but needs work and vision.

aboutrready: I was shocked by 755 WEA #3B. The agent was walking around barefoot, and the sellers' life story was displayed on the door of the refrigerator. For this they're paying 6%?

Was that the place with the i-bank stuff all around? I'm clueless, but the husband did notice it. I didn't check out the kitchen too closely once it was apparent that I'd have to gut it. My daughter got a good laugh out of the wine refrigerator, which she thought stuck out in its dated surroundings.

That's the one. There's something unsettling about a foyer stacked with Iron Mountain boxes, especially when all the binders are emblazoned with a certain "bullish" logo.

Your daughter has a good eye for incongruity.

I saw the condo at 2250 Broadway 17B. Priced at 1200+/sq. ft. Wow. Nice apartment, wide open views. Waiting for the chops to start.

the places i went to had about 3 to 5 people on the sign in sheet. i tend to go towards the end of the alloted time since i always seems to be running late.

I went to 2 on the upper east for 2 bed, 2 baths. There was 4 people at one and 11 sign ons at the other.
1 apt was new to market and another had been on for 300 days and had been chopped 200k but needs to come down another 250K imo to sell.

I ran two hours instead of one at 731 Greenwich because I feared daylight savings time would throw people off.

Got nearly 20 people (7 uniques, since there were some couples and one group of 7!) a couple of them starting off on the "circuit," no one who needs an apartment tomorrow.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

The Sunday evening open house thread has been a mainstay of SE since I first started reading it a year ago. Surely I am not alone in noticing that the past few weeks have seen surprisingly little in the way of reports. (W81st, where are you?) This relative silence speaks volumes about the state of the NYC residential real estate market during what has historically been its busiest season.

I went to two
1) 151 W 122nd street townhouse for $2.995 million. Billed as Harlem's first townhouse renovation to meet the LEED standards -- Greenest home etc. Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval etc. The house itself has a nice layout. However, the finish quality is mediocre at best. They focused on a marketing gimmick rather than the spirit of Green building. They have used CFL bulbs, have a rainwater harvesting tank that puts water into the back garden, Photovoltaics, low VOC paint, locally sourced or recovered flooring and other things. Of course you couple this with living large appliances and so forth, and market it with the idea that doing it Green is more expensive and deserves a premium. Maybe the place would show better with staging and paint touch up etc. As it is it may appeal to the naive person who wants Green features. I am glad that these features were added, but find the "we need to charge a premium for being Green" marketing of a property that could have made much better (more attractive and durable) choices of materials used to be unattractive. Paying $2 million for this would make it competitive. At $3 million at this location with the finish quality they have I am not sure. On the other hand they started out paying $1.45 million for the shell. So, by the time this is sold they may not make much (they started at $4 million).

2) 238 W 108. This is the price-value leader in new construction on the UWS. Amazing psf relative to anything comparable in the area. Cheaper than Harlem with quality fixtures and nice finish. Layout is railroad style -- the apt is reminiscent of 267 W 124, but priced way lower. Amazing. Alas, it really is only a 2br, and we need 3. The living spaces are also a bit on the small side, thanks to a fireplace that juts out into the room.There is a terrace that gives you an exciting view through the backs of old buildings to the STrauss PArk chocolate building. The sq ft are grossly inflated -- they include the stairs and elevator. True is probably shy of 1450 sq ft. -- they give you gross sq ft. Maintenance is low. Hopefully this is the harbinger of future prices in the area. For someone looking for a 2br that is modern and reasonably nicely done this is a good choice at this point. Realtor was very nice to discuss things with as well.

crickets. Wow.

Cherrywood: I made quick stops at three open houses - two at 255 W84th, one at 127 W79th. I'll write them up as time permits. The headline takeaways are:
1) There seems very little chance of a happy ending for any of them; and
2) High maintenance is lethal in this market.

Good turnout at our open house yesterday. About 10 parties, two coming back this week. We also had a mid-week open house last week with good turnout, and 16 people at our open house last Sunday. Finally, a # of mid-week appointments already with new potential buyers, and it's only Monday. Don't know if any of this will translate into a good offer, but traffic is good. The our maintenace is 80 cent per square foot in a doorman builinding with new halls, elevators, and lobby probably helps.

749 WEA - 999K - First open, advertised as xxx mint. Not really. On the downside, the floor was sanded through to the point that the tongue and groove was beginning to split. I had visions of my sock grabbing a splinter and running a sliver of period oak floor between my toes and into my foot. The 2nd BR was a converted maids room so quite small and the small 1/2 bath in the room was made into a closet but could be converted back. On the upside (sort of), the kitchen was completely done and done well . My gripe here is that it was done to the point where it didn't fit in with rest of the apartment. A lot of wood and stripped moldings gave way to sleek white modern cabinets and glass tile. A horrible clash of styles IMO. The living/dining/foyer was all combined into one space with two oversize windows that came down to shin height. Windows faced west with views to the river. Two other windows faced south with views down WEA. Great airy feeling to the space, even with the frumpy furniture and clutter. 7W is in contract at 949K list after 3 1/2 months on the market. 12W was taken off the market at 1.299M after 3 months of trying. With its north of 96th location, coupled with issues noted above, its going to be sitting for awhile, unless someone falls for the views.

unless the townhouse has solar panels that allow you to have free or nearly free electric, I would not pay a penny extra for it's "green" features.