Over 50 condo units to go to auction in NYC

More than 50 units in two properties will go on the auction block Feb. 13, with prices at more than 66 percent off their original price, the Daily News reported. For New Amsterdam Condominiums, a new Washington Heights condo at 177th Street and Amsterdam, prices will start at $125,000 for one-bedroom apartments and go as high as $300,000 for a three-bedroom penthouse. Later in the day, East River Tower, a building near the Long Island City-Astoria border, will go on the block with 25 apartments up for auction. Bids for one-bedrooms will start at $195,000, and at $315,000 for two-bedrooms. “This is like the Olympics of real estate marketing,” said John Cuticelli, president of Sheldon Good & Company, the auction company overseeing both projects. “Setting price and gaining momentum for the seller and creating opportunity and fair value for the buyer, that’s what we do.”

 The auction will be held at the Roosevelt Hotel at 45th Street and Madison Avenue. Though auctions are not so popular right now, they might be the most effective way to sell apartments and should be considered an important marketing tool, according to Cuticelli. However, developers fear that auctions could keep sales prices lower than they like. In addition, buyers think auctions are used only for buildings in distress or owners in extreme financial difficulty, though that’s not always the case. “For single residences, condos, luxury homes, commercial buildings, hotels, it doesn’t matter what, this is the way to determine price, get incredible exposure and sell real estate,” Cuticelli added. “It’s the most transparent experience in real estate today.” [NYDN]