home office is a bad thing?

No one replies if you don't say something negative about the real estate market. I just posted that I bid on two properties and got no response.

But let me add: The board of my UES coop didn't like people working from home either. I have a few friends that are psychologists etc and they bought in condos. One friend of mine bought in a very nice prewar condo on the UES.

I never heard of they don't like your home address to be the same as your work. If you said you had a lot of foot traffic etc, yes then it's a problem.

Thanks for the response. I can understand the reluctance to not have a shrink in the building hosting crazies in the elevators all day long, but a desk and a computer?

Sorry, didn't see the point that you have no clients. You should be fine then. We have a small fund manager in our building and he had no problems getting in.

That's what I would have thought as well, but it seems my bids are not taken seriously with this admission. The seller's broker suggested I 'change' my work address to a PO Box or something, but I'd rather not lie (and am embarrassed for the building that they would allow such a suggestion to pass) so will most likely move on. After all, with what I'm being told (50% down, a chunk of (not low) maintenance in escrow, etc, etc) I can't imagine buyers are kicking down the door to get in. Time will tell! God bless the condos!

sounds like the seller broker is a momo, probably asking for extra maint in escrow too.

Mulligan - working from home, while becoming increasingly common, used to imply significant foot traffic. I think you are better off not saying anything. There will be no long-term fallout because you work in your pajamas, however you may miss a good opportunity by an unnecessary admition.

Hey, UD, curious how your sales are going? Like to hear real broker info and you tell it as it is.

slow

so if today you are working in a bricks/mortar spot, but after you close you go 100% virtual/home office with the same parameters - all computer, no clients, no nothing - who the hee to the hey would know? i could go weeks/months longer and not see fellow bldg occupants. inane "rule."

UD, slwo for all segments of market?

plenty of action, bids submitted, appts set, etc.. but slow on deals signed.

My problem is that I blabbed about it after I was smitten with the property - thought the transparency would help!

why would any coop welcome psychologists, for ex? to make it normal for total strangers to go into the building feels unsafe and unappealing to me. the board might not want to take the risk of foot traffic, even if you tell them that there's going to be none, they might not entirely trust that.

Some coops have in the by laws that operating a business is prohibited.

Admin - I take your point about client heavy businesses, but a blanket NO to any home office sounds odd to me. After all, anyone looking to put up 50% down and pay a hefty maintenance fee isn't looking to dilute anyone's value. Besides, if a building is truly fearful of strangers why not ban guests as well? From the building's point of view, guests are just as unknown and potentially unsafe as clients are.

My suspicion is that the board's problem would resolve itself with a higher bid!

that makes me thing... what happens if sby in the coop sets up an escort service?

think, not thingggg sorry about that.

about the higher bid, i wouldn't do it unless you are in a hurry to settle down. with the econ going from bad to worse, they will probably relax their standards. even 740 park avenue converted units into doctors offices when times were bad.

admin, didn't that (the escort service thing) happen downtown at the Penny Lane (great name for the home of an escort service)? I could swear I recall that story, but I don't know if I got it from the news or as gossip from someone who lived there.

Our coop has a rule that you are not allowed to put a sign on your door for a business and I am sure foot traffic is frowned on (and most likely not allowed.) I think so many people work from home in some capacity that taking it any further than that is ludicrous although of course none of us can change the rules of the property you are interested. I don't think that's why your bid was not entertained but if the broker confirms it, would supply a simple letter describing the nature of your work.

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Admin - you're right about not increasing the bid. In fact, I'm going to use this as a way to put myself on the sidelines... let the seller wonder what happened to that bid! I just got the sense that the home office exclusion was a smoke screen masking the true issue: the seller wants more money!

cannot say why your bid wasn't accepted. but it sounds like a blessing in disguise to me, maybe the home office saved you, who knows. (for full disclosure: i expect more fast price erosion ahead of us)

admin, I agree. I think the spring listings will come on at a time when the prior listings have backlogged, and a number of them will be people who hoped that the selling environment would get better but instead find it worse. and there are signs that credit spreads are worsening again, so bank risk-taking shows no signs of getting better.

mulligan, good luck.