We’re negotiating with our neighbor to buy her 1BR (next to ours). She floated an asking price; we countered by offering her asking price minus the average 6% she would give to a broker. She has now lowered her initial asking price by only $4K. We think she’d never get that amount if it was placed on the market. How to proceed?


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. I bought a building from a friend. She listed it with 2 realtors without an exclusive, i.e she was free to sell it on her own. She received a few offers and I gave her approximately 3% less than her best offer. Both of us walked away feeling it was a fair deal. In your case, neighbor can list it with agent but advise them that they already have an offer and they can see if your offer is in the range. You of course risk losing out if they get more than their current ask price.

  2. Make sure that it really is cheaper to expand than to move, if you are planning on combining, and not just buying for a space to rent out, or to use as an office, uncombined with your current space.

    Sometimes when you combine apartments, you end up with a much higher maintenance than moving to a similarly sized larger unit. (This is common in coops – not sure if it works that way in condos or not.) Even if you don’t mind paying the higher monthly fee, it can be a big factor when you go to sell. Could still be economical if your combined purchase prices are cheap – but you’ll get a lower price when you sell with a high maintenance than similarly sized comparables without the higher fees, and it will take longer to sell.

    Having seen people come out with really high (comparative) maintenances, after paying for the combining renovation, and for the expediter to legally combine the apartments into one unit (important to do to sell, even if your coop is small doesn’t require it), not to mention resulting in some odd layouts I’d never think about buying, I think I’d check out whether moving isn’t a better idea first. Not that it might not be better to buy and combine – just that it isn’t always true.

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