East Village
$951,000
203 East 13th Street, PH4B
One-bedroom, one-bath, 715 sf prewar condo unit in the Kiehl’s Building; apartment has private roof deck, washer/dryer, security system; common charges $448 per month, taxes $474 per month; asking price $949,000; one week on the market. (Brokers: Jon Amundsen, the Corcoran Group; Cindy Scholz, Citi Habitats)
“I represented myself in this deal. I was looking for a condo, and the condo market is really tight. I had shown this apartment to clients three years ago, [when it was listed for] $1.3 million. When it came back on the market listed at $949,000, I asked if I could see it that day, and the broker said, “You have to come to the open house.” It’s an old loft-style unit with a huge private roof deck, and definitely the private roof space is what got me. The maintenance was low, too. Everyone at the open house was on the phone with their parents, their significant others. I said right away, ‘I’ll take it,’ and I paid a couple grand over ask. … The building did have a couple issues, like a low cash-reserve fund, which meant I had to put 35 percent down. The mortgage process took over two months, and with having to put a large amount down, the whole situation was extremely stressful. The amount of paperwork they requested was really just unreal. The seller was patient. He was in a lot of financial trouble, so he just had to let this apartment go.”
Cindy Scholz, Citi Habitats
Bridget Schuy
Noho
$636,000
308 Mott Street, Apt. 1D
One-bedroom, one-bath, 750 sf unit in a prewar co-op; apartment has eat-in kitchen, washer/dryer, custom closets; common charges $1,618 per month; asking price $669,000; 16 weeks on the market. (Broker: Bridget Schuy, Bond New York)
“The buyer called me on the fly, and I just happened to be in the apartment. … The buyer is a bachelor in the finance industry and he had been looking about three months. He fell so in love with the apartment, he was like, “Can I buy the furniture?” The sellers were a couple who were quite attached to the apartment. They had worked on it together, put it all together carefully, including some custom furniture and some very tasteful art. So when they knew the buyer shared their aesthetic sense and appreciated the custom furnishings, it endeared him to them. The sellers were moving out of state, [and] the buyer wound up getting all the customized furniture. As far as financing, the buyer used Wells Fargo — he was preapproved, even — but it was cumbersome. There were a lot of tedious documents.”
Bridget Schuy, Bond New York.
Evelyn Katz
Upper East Side
$1.9 million
327 East 82nd Street, Apt. 2
Three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,830 sf duplex condo unit in a prewar townhouse; apartment has private garden, eat-in kitchen, fireplace; common charges $500 per month, taxes $600 per month; asking price $1.6 million; three and a half weeks on the market. (Brokers: Susan Kane and Jaar-mel Sloane, Sloane Square NYC; Evelyn Katz, Fox Residential Group)
“The unit is the parlor floor and first floor of a four-story townhouse, plus a basement. When it came on the market, there were about 150 people calling. There aren’t many condo townhouse properties, and this one has a private garden. The seller had paid about $2.2 million; they bought it five years ago. It was first shown on a Sunday, and by midweek we had an accepted offer. But then it was retracted because people were bidding it up. … [My buyer] said, “I will outbid [the highest bidder] by $100,000.” There were a few issues, like work permits that weren’t closed out by the city from the prior owner doing renovations. But my [client] closed fast for all cash.” Evelyn Katz, Fox Residential.