Advice for a Freaked Out Apartment Seller
Help! After many wonderful years living in Brooklyn my husband got a new job and we have to relocate to Seattle. He left me here to sell the apartment and take care of our two young boys thinking we’d have the deal wrapped up and be out there by Christmas. Well, it hasn’t quite turned…
Help! After many wonderful years living in Brooklyn my husband got a new job and we have to relocate to Seattle. He left me here to sell the apartment and take care of our two young boys thinking we’d have the deal wrapped up and be out there by Christmas. Well, it hasn’t quite turned out as we planned.
The broker recommended we price the apartment (a two bedroom walkup on Henry Street in Carroll Gardens) at $595K when it first went on the market almost two months ago. No takers.
After two more price cuts, we’re down to $475K. The open houses are always very busy. But NO ONE IS BUYING. At this point, I’d consider any offers. But there aren’t any. What should I do? The URL for the listing is http://www.bhsbrooklyn.com/detail.asp?id=960620
Thanks in advance for any and all advice!
What about rent to own.
Remove the asking price and state “MAKE OFFER”.
Hang in there. This price is a steal and it will happen.
We lived around the corner before we bought in “fringe” part of Prospect Heights, and the location is amazing.
Two months on the market is not long in today’s climate.
The only thing the floorplan does not give dimentions, and the place looks tiny in the pictures. If it is bigger than 800sf you should state the square footage.
Good luck.
Your apt is lovely and I would buy it in a second if I could afford it, but sadly I cannot. However, if you decide to rent, I would LOVE to be your tenant and I would treat your home as if it were my own (and would sign something to that effect). I lived at 25 2nd Place for 10 years and left the neighborhood only because my apartment was too small for my growing family (I moved in a single girl, moved out a married lady with a baby). My old landlords, who are your neighbors, would certainly vouch for my excellent tenancy. I miss Carroll Gardens terribly. If you get to the point where you are ready to rent, please contact me offline at persephone2669 at yahoo dot com. And good luck with your move to Seattle — it’s a wonderful city and you will LOVE living there I am sure.
cobblegirl–one other thing that I would suggest. This is something that the Corcoran brokers who sold my place in September told me. My place was similar in size and price to yours in Clinton Hill. The brokers told us to remove as much of the stuff from the apartment as we could, really strip it down to the essentials so it felt roomier and bigger and nicer. People dont want to see too much of your stuff when they are considering buyer. Its no offense or anything, just some weird psychological aspect of buyers. You might want to try this both for new pictures and for the open houses. Flowers are always a good idea too. Anyway, we sold pretty quickly but even in September when we sold it was a different market. Some of the really bad stuff economic stuff had gone down at that point but not everything as you are facing. If you could afford to rent it out for a little while it would probably be helpful to you. Good luck! We will all be rooting for you.
Thanks, Johnny. We’re going for good it seems. With two young kids, I don’t think we could afford to come back and have the space we’ll need!
What are the dimensions of those bedrooms?
I’m REALLY surprised your place hasn’t sold yet. It’s really lovely. I especially love the tin ceiling.
Your building looks really well kept from the outside as well.
Maybe someone reading this will see your place and know someone who’s looking. I think the price seems more than fair.
Speaking from experience. Sure renting’s a risk, but if you think you might be back, it’s one perhaps worth considering. I’ve also had good luck when I rented our my co-op during a move to San Francisco. Was there when I decided to move back.
Also, 2 months is what passed for normal not so many years ago. Not necessarily a massive cause for concern, but I’m sure an inconvenience you’d rather not have. Good luck!