Inside Third & Bond: Week 133

The Third & Bond bloggers follow up their star turn in the paper of record with some nuts-and-bolts info…We can’t believe the New York Times went with geraniums on the front of the Real Estate section, burying us in the back. C’mon, a developer being transparent about the real estate process or a bunch of flowers? We’re teasing, well, David might not be but Alison is just thrilled to have been in the paper of record. How can we follow being in the Times? How about a sales update?

As per the Times article, we are 20% sold. The crucial percentage was 15% because that allows us to have the condo plan declared effective. Now we are just waiting on TCO to start closing units for those buyers who are paying all cash or whose lenders don’t have a pre-sale requirement…

…Most lenders do have a pre-sale requirement and it comes down from Fannie Mae, FHA, SONYMA, or the VA whichever agency the bank wants to buy/insure its mortgages. Each agency has a different pre-sale requirement. The lowest is FHA at 30%. FHA loans are common and most of our units qualify under the sales price cap, so it’s great that we are close to meeting the 30% threshold. Fannie Mae used to be 70% but has dropped down to 50%. SONYMA wants 51%. The VA is the toughest, requiring 70%.

Of the 20% sold, we have sold at least one of every type: studio, 1-bed, 2-bed, and 3+bed. There doesn’t seem to be a favorite building either, as purchases have been made all over the project. We’ve also sold a handful of roof terraces and storage bins.
We sold the 2-bedroom model, so we’ll be moving the Pratt furnishings from there up to a penthouse 1-bedroom in the same building. The penthouse deserves showcasing: two floors, two views, two full baths. It has a great terrace off the bedroom with big, open sky views. Maybe if we put out some pots of geraniums on that terrace we can score the front page next time around.

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Inside Third & Bond: Weeks 1-132 [Brownstoner]

Our legal fine print: The complete offering terms are in an Offering Plan available from Sponsor. File No. CD080490. Sponsor: Hudson Third LLC, 826 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.