Pigeons, hauntings, and home births: NYC condo shoppers’ wide-ranging concerns

In New York City real estate, brokers say they’ve heard it all. Condo hauntings, “shady” pigeons, and home birth preparedness: these are just a few of the outlandish concerns that some New York City buyers have, according to some New York City brokers. Some of the most irritating buyer requests made to agents included one apartment shopper who noticed pigeons loitering on a nearby air conditioning unit and wanted to go meet the fowl squatters “to make sure they were the type of pigeons that she could live next to.” Another wanted assurance that the home he was about to purchase wasn’t in a building with any history of reported hauntings, while a third shopper was such an adamant believer in home birthing that she brought a wading pool to the closing, in case she went into labor during the contract signing. (Note: clarification made)