Open House Picks

4:13 – 3BR/2BA PS owner here – we aren’t putting our place on the market til we find a house so maybe the timing won’t work out – it really depends on when we find one. But we do have a few house leads so who knows, it could happen soon. How do folks connect on this list without announcing their contact info to the whole list – moderator, any suggestions? Can we do this through you?

4:10 – the reason the commmon charges are so low is that in a condo, these don’t include things like homeowners insurance (which each unit can choose individually), and taxes are also extra. Still, the monthly charges are much lower than many coops. Actually, some of the new developments also have low common charges too but they also tend to be shoddy post-war construction boxes. There’s nothing fishy about low common charges – they are listed in the offering plan which all buyers can read.

I’m betting the PS one goes for $2M or over. 321 is a big selling point for some, and though narrow (wise move opening up the parlor floor), there are four stories. I’m betting the buyer is a couple with young kids (or soon to have them) who will turn this into a 1-family. The exterior and interior look great.

As for the future, I think there may be some stagnation on the prices (I would have guessed the PS one would have listed for $2.4M, unless you get in there and it feels *really* narrow). There is a credit crunch and when more place come on the market in the spring there should be some softening, but I doubt prices will revert to those of five years ago, or something like that.

3:59 – 3:45 here. Not to turn this into a private conversation between us, but FYI, our place might command more $/sf since we live in a condo (albeit prewar with the charm of most coop places without the headaches) and common charges are only $200/month. This evidently is extremely attractive to buyers – it was to us when we bought this place and still is! My point is that, as someone who is both a seller and a buyer, since we’re looking to trade-up, I think I have a pretty objective opinion on the market. I really do think the run-up in prices of the last few years has been pretty crazy, but then, I suppose that for people like us, we get sucked into having to ask for a ton of money since it’s the only way we can trade up. But I for one would be happy to see prices calm down so that we can get more space for our growing family and sell our lovely apt to a nice young family. I’d also hate for PS to turn into a neighborhood of only rich people which is the direction it’s been heading in, unless there’s a correction…

3:51 – I live in a refrigerator box on a park block. I don’t work, but if I did, I would say, “I’m going home.”