Co-op of the Day: 141 Lafayette 2 Bedroom FSBO
What do you do if you’re an architect looking to sell your charming 2-bedroom apartment in one of the nicer co-op buildings in Fort Greene? FSBO all the way. The approach is nuthin’ fancy — just a blogspot site with the simplest, cleanest design template — but it works. While we’ve got no idea whether…
What do you do if you’re an architect looking to sell your charming 2-bedroom apartment in one of the nicer co-op buildings in Fort Greene? FSBO all the way. The approach is nuthin’ fancy — just a blogspot site with the simplest, cleanest design template — but it works. While we’ve got no idea whether he’ll get any takers at the asking price of $685,000 for 950 square feet, we were just excited to see the photo of the common garden (on the jump) that appears to be shared also with the neighboring townhouses. What’s the story with that?
Sunny 2 Bedroom Co-op [141 Lafayette] GMAP
wow…babs..the parlour level finally sold..I was in the market at the time it first went on the market and kept an eye on it for a while..a realtor who saw it told me it was overpriced at the original price and needed a lot of work
That building in the back isn’t a neighboring townhouse … it is a gorgous, renovated cottage/carriage house that is part of the co-op. It is also “the one that got away” in my Brooklyn real estate odyssey. We had the opportunity to buy it back in 2000 but never got the seller (basically the co-op sponser) to agree to a price. To this day I try not to drive by that building – it makes me so sad (even though I am glad that I ended up buying a building and not getting involved with that co-op). I saw the carriage house listed on craigslist a couple of years ago for about $750,000.
This coop is just lovely; I’ve always admired it as I walked past on my way home to CH. It is pretty expensive, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t someone who’d pay extra to live in such an obviously well-kept-up and gracious building, especially with the nice outdoor space as well. On the subject of brokers: I’m sure there are some nice, hardworking ones. That said, they are basically parasites.
cheapskates, it is not an easy market and brokers know how to negotiate and deal with buyers and their lawyers. you get what you pay for, and these a few nice lamps don’t sell a place! angry broker, for sure.
Selling a luxury item, like this insanely priced piece of property, is going to take a bit of distance from the seller. Every buyer out there, whether they read this blog or not, is going to expect a bargain when buying from a seller — unless a property is priced perfectly and the market is aware of it. In this case this buyer is reaching for the stars and expecting to also save on the comission. Not many buyers are going to offer him full price. The little house is part of the coop and is its own unit. It is tiny, but sweet. The rear outdoor space is not very private and the tiny cottage is facing it. So my guess is most people in the building don’t hang out here much since it feels like somebody else’s yard.
I’m sure there are many brokers who are very professional, helpful and honest. But I can understand the urge of not going through a broker for many reasons.
The NYT recently reported that real estate brokers are the least trusted profession, and commented on the glut of brokers in the NYC market. Also if you read Freakonmics there is a good economic argument as to why brokers don’t have your best interests in mind (e.g., if you sell for 400K instead of 500K the difference to the seller is 100K, but the difference of commission to the broker is just $5,000).
I’ve seen this place and I think it’s fair to comment on pricing only if you saw it and have enough information to access it’s value. Everyone is a real estate expert{appraiser}. It’s clear to me that there is more to this apartment than just square footage.
I won’t get in to the debate about pricing, but just want to comment on the back yard here. I was in the courtyard several years ago (shared by the whole buidling) and one of the most remarkable things about it is that there is a beautiful small 2-story house right there in the yard. It was under reno when I was there, and I don’t know much more about it, but I lusted after that place.
Jake (the snake): you make a broker’s job seem so simple and without merit, why didn’t you take a 4 weeks course and open doors and consequently make tons of cash. Seem to be a better option than to waste time frequenting blogs and spewing anger and hate. I can understand the angst that come from something so simple being so elusive, due to personal innate inadequacies. Poor loser….