Last Week's Biggest Sales

all of these buyers overpaid. the st james property is over the top, if someone actually paid that much, there are extenuating circumstances we are not privy to.

Actually, Miss Chiff, since the meltdown, we have been going to far fewer open houses since we are now much more cautious. Since Sept, we have only had one offer get very far, to the point of basically being accepted. And the reason we turned that house down was because, pretty far into the process, we had an architect come look at it and learned it needed a lot more money than we’d originally thought. My point in sharing the story was just to demonstrate the shifting attitudes of brokers. Even pre-meltdown, we felt prices were excessive, and our bids reflected that. But whereas before, brokers scoffed, now they are taking us very seriously and we are finding some are currently coming out of the woodwork to call us to see if we’re still looking, since buyers, esp well-qualified ones, are increasingly scarce.

We remain serious buyers and we don’t place bids lightly, nor do we seek to taunt sellers as you seem to imply. And we *will* buy when we find the right place – however, our definition of “right” has now shifted, mainly in terms of budget. We simply are no longer willing to pay the kinds of prices that even last spring seemed palatable. Back then, we were willing to “stretch” – and even our “low” offers still reflected an enormous stretch for us. But now, while we don’t expect to get a house for free – and indeed, still have a healthy budget – we also at long last are seeing the possibility of buying a home with adequate space for our growing family, near our child’s school, that we can afford without being “house poor” since our incomes are actually quite modest. Many sellers right now seem bitter, but what they seem to forgot is all the potential buyers who have been priced out for so long who now finally have a shot of getting in at prices that are more in line with historical norms and not the craziness of the last few years.

I know I get flak from having profited from this craziness, but I really don’t think the buyers of our previous apartment got “screwed”. At the time, our place was still priced below many comparable properties because even then, we were nervous about the state of market and so we priced conservatively. The buyers love the place and intend to stay for a long time, so hopefully they will not need to sell in the next 5-10 years or so. And at the time, we were not sure we were doing the right thing by selling first (a decision fueled largely by the need to live in a different public school zone); indeed I felt major “seller’s remorse” since many were still caught up in the bubble’s fervor and told us we were crazy to sell. But, we took a gamble and yes, I’m glad. No one can predict the future, so I feel lucky more than anything else, though I also think the writing was on the wall for a long time.

Miss Muffet: If you sold at the top of the market and are waiting for prices to drop before you buy, good for you. Smart move.

But you have gone to great lengths to explain that you just happened to sell on the last day of the bubble. You can’t accept that the buyers of your last property got screwed. You even keep in contact with them, right? Is that because you actually like them or you are just trying to make yourself feel better because you know they got screwed?

Now you admit that you are low-balling. Nothing wrong with that, right BHO? But you are always telling us that if you found the right house for your family (in the right school district) you would purchase it.

Even when people entertain your low-ball offers, you turn around and say no thanks and say there is something wrong with the place. If you don’t want it, why in god’s name are you even making an offer? What, exactly, is wrong with you?

You have no real intention of buying now and you are wasting the time of real estate agents and sellers – and Brownstoner readers – with your efforts. IN this market, that behavior is cruel, especially for a potential seller.

We know what you think of the housing market. Let it go already. ANd stop going to open houses and wasting people’s time.

Why 11217? I’m just quoting an article in the New York Times. Why is that not rational?

hard to believe the st james house sold for 1.9mm – either typo or fraud. but who knows..

seriously – im long a house in the bk so would love it to be true but just doesnt make sense.