Last Week's Biggest Sales
1. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $5,000,000 118 Willow Street GMAP (left) When this 7,200-sf, 2-family brownstone was a House of the Day for the first time, in January ’08, it was listed for $8,000,000. The price was cut a few times and it was asking $6.8 mil when it was an Open House Pick last November. The…
1. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $5,000,000
118 Willow Street GMAP (left)
When this 7,200-sf, 2-family brownstone was a House of the Day for the first time, in January ’08, it was listed for $8,000,000. The price was cut a few times and it was asking $6.8 mil when it was an Open House Pick last November. The last price cut brought it down to $5.95 mil in January. Entered into contract on 6/15/09; closed on 8/4/09; deed recorded on 8/13/09.
2. FORT GREENE $2,700,000
53 South Elliott Place GMAP (right)
This 3,600-square-foot one-family was a House of the Day a couple of times, most recently last December, when it was listed for $3,495,000. Entered into contract on 2/9/09; closed on 7/29/09; deed recorded on 8/13/09.
3. PARK SLOPE $1,870,000
106 Park Place GMAP
This 16.67-foot-wide house was a House of the Day and Open House Pick a couple times, most recently in March ’08, when it was asking $2,495,000. The sellers bought it for $1,300,000 in 2006. Entered into contract on 5/1/09; closed on 6/30/09; deed recorded on 8/12/09.
4. South Slope $1,700,000
248 10th Street GMAP
This is a 2,400-square-foot, 2-fam, according to Property Shark. Entered into contract on 5/26/09; closed on 7/28/09; deed recorded on 8/14/09.
5. CLINTON HILL $1,600,000
125 Willoughby Avenue GMAP
When this 2-family was a House of the Day last June, it was listed for $2,100,000. By the time it was an Open House Pick last October, it was asking $1,795,000. The sellers bought it for $1,400,000 in 2005. Entered into contract on 1/7/09; closed on 3/3/09; deed recorded on 8/14/09.
Pics from Property Shark.
re ironballs:
“If the market can go up 300% in ten years, why can’t it go down 50% in two or three?”
I think that brooklyn and the demand for property here has changed so fundamentally in the last 10 years that an analysis like this is null.
“Jack,
In a declining market like this one, the longer a property is listed, the less it eventually fetches.”
I would have thought that all the above sales would disprove that.
Thanks. True indeed but Ebay tactics are not for every seller. If the guy 3 blocks away raised the bar with his sale. There’s nothing wrong with trying to get the same number without playing games and leading sellers on.
I’ve been down that road before and it sucks not knowing if there’s really a counter offer on the plate.
at IronBalls at August 18, 2009 11:54 PM
I’ll take that bet!!!
An asking price on the low end sparks interest and often multiple bids.
And it’s certainly not honorable to ask a crazy high price and leave your property on the market forever “just in case” some idiot comes along who just won the lottery and wants to blow his wad.
I get that Iron. But going with the facts displayed..How could they have made more? and honorably?
Jack,
In a declining market like this one, the longer a property is listed, the less it eventually fetches.
If a property is reasonably priced, it shouldn’t sit on the market for more than 60 days, max.
Half the houses listed in Brooklyn have been on the market over 200 days. . .
Greedy sellers are their own worst enemies.
The more I think about it, the more positive I am that the Brooklyn housing market will fall another 50% within the next year or two.
Simply put, the real estate bubble has hardly begun to pop in NYC. Asking prices, as well as recently closed sales prices, are still insane. There’s no sound economic rational for them, and honestly, there never was.
“Those sellers made some nice profit. Good for them. But they could have made more had they not foolishly, and greedily overpriced their properties.”
Ok i dont get the last sentence in that comment :/
I did not insinuate that the sellers made a bad move based on what they paid. They wanted to sell, and bought at a reasonable price. Which, BTW is exactly what ANYONE looking for property right now, as home OR investment should be considering. The price you pay now is going to greatly determine whether it was a good use of a substantial amount of cash. Otherwise you will not be as fortunate as these folks.
All I was suggesting is that overpricing your property, which has been rampant, and turning down offers in a declining market is a bad move. It costs you money you could have made and wastes your time.
Those sellers made some nice profit. Good for them. But they could have made more had they not foolishly, and greedily overpriced their properties.
Wadser, thanks for your feedback.
I agree, the word “guarantee” may be a bit of hyperbole on turning down offers.
BUT, I have plenty of hands on evidence from my ongoing search of sellers who turned down extremely generous offers for properties featured here that are listed hundreds of thousands of dollars below what they were offered. Brokers have flat out told me this while I’ve been searching. So it may be hyperbole to extend the argument to a property I know nothing about specifically, but the general environment, history, and psychology of sellers of their property at peaks in a real estate bu8bble jsut suggests its more than likely.