Financial District
$670,000
71 Nassau Street, #3B
One-bedroom, one-bath, 685-square-foot unit in a condo conversion, the Croft; building has doorman, roof deck, gym; unit has eat-in kitchen, washer/dryer; common charges $835 per month; taxes $280 per year; asking price $699,000; 40 weeks on the market. (Brokers: Jesse Buckler and Tom Stuart, Bond New York)
Jesse Buckler
“The listing was a referral from a friend. The seller wanted a larger apartment. We decided it would be easier [for him to] sell and then move to a rental, because at this point you can’t make a sale contingent on another sale. We ended up doing a direct deal when the buyer came to an open house and didn’t have a broker yet. I was shocked at how many investors [showed interest], but this was a single individual. When he saw it, he said, ‘I am going to buy this.’ One thing that put the co-op board off was the age of the buyer — he was younger. But he is fully able financially to pay for the apartment. He got a traditional mortgage and put a substantial amount down. The closing went well. In fact, the furniture was being moved in during the closing.”
Jesse Buckler, Bond New York
104 Wooster Street, #2N
Soho
$5.65 million
104 Wooster Street, #2N
Three-bedroom, three-bath, 3,100 sf condo; building has doorman; unit has keyed elevator, exposed wood beams, central A/C; common charges $2,182 per month, taxes $2,072 per month; asking price $5.59 million; 11 weeks on the market. (Brokers: Jason Saft, Citi Habitats; Jason Karadus, Town Residential)
Jason Saft
“The sellers were looking to change scenery and locations; it was more convenient for them to be Uptown. I put the apartment on the market in late October. … I had the world’s greatest stager. She chose great furniture and she really made you want to sit in the space, and I think that’s really key. You don’t want to walk through [3,100] square feet of blank space. Contracts were being drafted with a family who had toured the apartment a number of times, [when] I got a call from [another bidder’s] agent. They wanted it, and could close in two or three weeks. The other buyer couldn’t match the offer. It was practically a record for the building. The buyers were all cash, and board approval was submitted and approved in seven days.”
Jason Saft, Citi Habitats
250 East 87th Street, #29J
Upper East Side
$520,000
250 East 87th Street, #29J
One-bedroom, one-bath, 650 sf unit in a doorman co-op, the Newbury; building has roof deck, pool, gym; unit has hardwood floors, granite countertops; maintenance $992 per month; asking price $539,000; two years on the market. (Brokers: Robin Portnoy, Maxwell Jacobs; Sarah Buff, Halstead Property)
Robin Portnoy
“I live in this building. When it came time for the seller to list, I was a known entity as an agent in the building, and she called me. She’s a psychologist for a school system outside of Manhattan and that was why she wanted to move. One major obstacle [to selling the apartment] was that the bedroom is very small. A king-size bed would not be feasible. It’s an interesting building that doesn’t really have great comps because the building has lots of amenities [like a pool and a gym] that people don’t really need when they are looking for a starter home. So many people who came to see the apartment got larger apartments for the same price in buildings that were considerably less fancy. We were having difficulty selling. … We found someone, but it took two years! She is a first-time buyer, so to satisfy the board it did require a gift to make sure the liquid assets were there. But I knew, because I have access to the board, what was going to work and what wasn’t going to work. Once the board package was submitted, it took probably two weeks.”
Robin Portnoy, Maxwell Jacobs