Chelsea
$792,000
219 West 14th Street
1-bedroom, 1-bathroom, 650 sf condo in a prewar walk-up building; unit has new kitchen, new bathroom and terrace; building has voice intercom, laundry room and bicycle storage; common charges $349 per month; taxes $392 per month; asking price $783,000; 2 weeks on the market. (Broker: Dmitry “Daniel” Kramp, City Connections Realty)
“This was a for-sale-by-owner. [The owner] had friends in the industry — a photographer who did her pictures for free, and a friend who helped her advertise the open house — so she put the money she would have spent on hiring a listing broker into the property in order to get a higher price. It was beautifully renovated with gorgeous, prewar finishes, and when I saw it I knew my buyers — an Israeli couple — were going to love it. One of them is going to school in New York, so they will be moving here for a few years, and they came into town for a week and a half to find an apartment. It was a fun deal with a lot of negotiating, because we had accepted offers twice — once for $740,000, and then for $780,000 — but then different buyers came in and offered more. We wound up getting it for above the asking price, after a bidding war.”
Dmitry “Daniel” Kramp, City Connections Realty
Financial District
$560,000
20 West Street
595 sf studio condo in a converted landmark elevator building (Downtown Club); 24-hour doorman; concierge; unit has southeast views of the Hudson River and Battery Park; building has fitness center, spa services, roof deck and private screening room; common charges $595 per month; taxes $104 per month; asking price $590,000; 4 weeks on the market. (Brokers: Aeen Avini, Town Residential; Caterina Proner, Peter Ashe Real Estate)
“For a while there, the building had a lot of listings that had not moved at all — nothing had closed recently — and it was a worry of mine that we wouldn’t get any action. But I think because it was at the point where things started to get really hot again, and because my owner renovated the unit nicely, the deal went very smoothly. We had an accepted offer within about 9 days. An Italian couple bought [it as a] pied-à-terre in an all-cash deal after a broker looked at the unit for them and showed them pictures online. The first time they actually saw the apartment was when they came to do the first walk-through the day they were signing the contract.”
Aeen Avini, Town Residential
Midtown East
$3.55 million
100 United Nations Plaza
3-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, 3,200 sf condo in a postwar elevator building; 24-hour doorman; concierge; unit has 1,500 sf great room with 100 feet of windows and terraces overlooking the East River; building has valet, security, attached parking garage and fitness center; common charges $3,624 per month; taxes $4,500 per month; asking price $4 million; 12 weeks on the market. (Brokers: David Larijani, New York Private Realty Group; Nutan Desai, Bellmarc Realty)
“This apartment had belonged to the Government of Monaco. You could fit 100 people or more in that living room — a really nice entertaining space. My buyers moved to the city from New Jersey about two years ago and had been renting, but they’d been looking for a place to buy for about a year and a half. They work in the Diamond District, and wanted something spacious and within walking distance. It was a long search, but we found the perfect place. My buyers are still going to renovate to meet their requirements, but they’re
very happy.”
Nutan Desai, Bellmarc Realty
Interviews conducted and condensed by Sarabeth Sanders