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October 14, 2008

Mary Stuart Masterson Unloads State Street Abode

386-State-Street-1008.jpg
The weakening market sinks all boats! The actress Mary Stuart Masterson found out the hard way that there's no such thing as a celebrity premium when the market's hurting. After coming out of the gates at $1,465,000 in March, the skinny but cute house had its asking price trimmed to $1,395,000 in April before going into contract in August for $1,305,000; the transaction closed on September 26, according to ACRIS. Although she only owned the house for a little over a year, it was probably still a money loser for her after transaction costs: she paid $1,275,000 for the house in June of 2007 and Corcoran doesn't work for free.
386 State Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
House of the Day: 386 State Street [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:03 AM | Comments (23)
Categories: Boerum Hill, Sales

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Comments

10.92% below the original asking price!!!! Sounds pretty much like normalcy to me!!! And 5 months on the market isn't out of whack with reality either.

In this case, I think the market acted fairly rationally.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 14, 2008 10:09 AM

Dave this house closed before the meltdown. Let's only be concerned with closings after September 15th-that will give a better picture of the market right now.

Posted by: 7andfive at October 14, 2008 10:19 AM

Sorry I meant went into contract not closing after 15 September.

Posted by: 7andfive at October 14, 2008 10:20 AM

I think considering everything, she did very well - she is VERY lucky she didn't lose much more serious money.

Posted by: gkw at October 14, 2008 10:36 AM

Actually, I think this looks like a fair price. Someone got a nice house at a decent price. What seems like a fair price in this market. As much as I'd like to think we are going to see some insane decreases in prices, its not likely. The market took a hit, but I wouldn't call it a meltdown necessarily.

Posted by: Delilah at October 14, 2008 10:37 AM

Why would she lose money. What everyone fails to understand is most people in NYC did not take out APR loans with 1% balloon rates. This is not Vegas. We will see a full recovery in Spring of 2009. You think prices will go down they might inch down a bit but guess what as Inflation kicks in next year it will bring prices back up again.

Posted by: sebb at October 14, 2008 10:41 AM

She lost money because closing costs probably totaled over 100K between paying the luxury tax when she bought the property and paying the Corcoran fee when she sold it.

Hard to break even when you only live in a place for a year.

Posted by: Lothar of the Clinton Hill People at October 14, 2008 10:50 AM

"Why would she lose money"

Because the sales commission alone exceeds the difference between the buying and selling price, let alone closing costs, lawyer fees etc. The fact that you need to ask this question goes hand-in-hand with your logic-defying assessments of the state of the real estate market right now.

Posted by: johnife at October 14, 2008 10:56 AM

And sebb, where is next year's inflation coming from. Oil, metals,corn, wheat,soybeans are all back to levels at or below where they were 12 months ago.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 14, 2008 11:09 AM

and lets not forget the government pretty much owns our banking system now.

who gets million dollar bonuses while working for the gov?

Posted by: Santa at October 14, 2008 11:12 AM

sure, 7andfive, we'll only be concerned with what you say we should be concerned with.

did any of you see this place? it's put together well and very cute, great block around the corner from the subway. but, really, it is basically a 2-bedroom condo alternative for short people who like stairs. honestly, i am not that big and the low ceilings on 2 of the 4 floors, the tight stairway, narrow spaces and sorry little sliver of a back patio enclosed by taller neighboring buildings made me viscerally uncomfortable after about 15 minutes. couldn't imagine actually living there.

even discounting for the difference between the market at contract and today, $1.3 million for this place is a good price, MSM's loss aside. and, by the way, as to that difference, can we please keep in mind that recent buyers aren't aliens with no ability to read and understand the news. if they thought the economy really was tanking, and that the agreed price was truly out of whack, they'd renegotiate (who knows, maybe they did) or walk away. so, no, maybe $1.3 million isn't today's price, but it's not as if these transactions are vacuum-sealed from the point of contract on.

Posted by: i disagree at October 14, 2008 11:16 AM

"it is basically a 2-bedroom condo alternative for short people who like stairs"

Uh Oh....I'm cringing at the "short people" comment and where it might lead today!!! :)

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 14, 2008 11:21 AM

Santa...there will be some give-back by the top 2-3 executives with this package. Details however are still unclear. It will not have an effect on the "producers" within these organizations. There will still be lots of multi million dollar payouts. That is, provided of course they are able to do the business.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 14, 2008 11:25 AM

i agree with i_disagree. i saw this place too and $1.3M is a great price given all those drawbacks. $1.5M was a real stretch even in a more solid market.

Posted by: z at October 14, 2008 11:26 AM

I disagree be concerned with whatever you want.

As for this house, luckily she was only in it for a year and probably didn't take out any home equity loans. Those that took out those ridiculous home equity loans will have even more problems trying to get out of this mess with their shirts on.

Posted by: 7andfive at October 14, 2008 11:29 AM

7andfive....I trust you've seen "Last Weeks Biggest Sales" here today...well into the "meltdown!!!"

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 14, 2008 11:43 AM

Dave see my first post. These sells went into contract a while ago- I'm not saying the sky is falling but I would like to see the closings in two months.

Also the very high end of the market will stay strong. 5th Ave penthouses will not have a problem selling. I'm more concerned about the middle and upper middle class- those with homes under 1.5 million that want to sell.

And for the record Bed Stuy is getting killed right now. Remember that place on Putnam? Still there. Property Shark even had a few foreclosures listed in the historic district.
I guess the Babs buy didn't have the short term effect everyone thought it would have.

Posted by: 7andfive at October 14, 2008 12:22 PM

erm... there's also the small matter of the $70k-odd of interest paid over the year. Perhaps not to be included if it were owner-occupied, or netted off against any rental income, but something needs to be included if you're calculating a profit or loss.

Oh, plus any money put into renovation after the previous deal.

Posted by: the chicken at October 14, 2008 12:24 PM

I wonder where she moved to...

Posted by: 11217 at October 14, 2008 12:28 PM

I don't know... I really really really don't have much sympathy. She owned the place 10 months before trying putting it on the market?!

Someone spends $1.3 million with that sort of commitment?!!

I know I know... there's a sob story in this. Or some unknown that should convince me it was the "only" thing she could do. But screw her. You buy to stay. If you are going to live somewhere for 10 freakin' months. Rent. Simple as that.

As far as her "losing money." She really probably broke even if you figure the rent she would have paid. All in all, I find these tales of wo underwhelming.

Posted by: tybur6 at October 14, 2008 1:06 PM

It's her money. I assume she has lots of it. Let her do what she damn well pleases.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 14, 2008 1:46 PM

Perhaps she bought a Mill Basin Mansion.

Posted by: Biff Champion at October 14, 2008 1:50 PM

tybur6, no one is suggesting the seller deserves sympathy or calling this a "tale of wo[e]." you're tilting at windmills.

Posted by: z at October 14, 2008 2:17 PM

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