Attendence Falls at Brooklyn Open Houses
Open houses are rarely (maybe never?) mentioned as places to seek solace within the city, but the NY Observer finds they may be approaching a Zen-like quality because, well, nobody’s at them. “It was the Sunday before the European markets began to tumble, during peak open house hours, and the buyer traffic through Brooklyn’s newer…
Open houses are rarely (maybe never?) mentioned as places to seek solace within the city, but the NY Observer finds they may be approaching a Zen-like quality because, well, nobody’s at them. “It was the Sunday before the European markets began to tumble, during peak open house hours, and the buyer traffic through Brooklyn’s newer towers was slow,” they write. “Extra special amenities played an integral role in luring buyers when neighborhood amenities were lacking, but with prices still sky high and memories of the borough’s boom fading fast, it seems the only reasonable options are to start cutting prices or to offer condos as rentals,” opines the Observer. “Both of these things are already happening. A pretty kitchen backsplash and walk-in closets just won’t cut it anymore.” Well, what should these buildings do to fill up those open houses again?
The Quietest Places To Pass a Sunday [NY Observer]
Photo by @chris.
It’s possible to miss the bottom too. It’s a timing issue of both sides, of course.
Z, it is human nature to want to get the best deal. The buyer wants as low a price as possible, the seller wants as high a price. You can only get a deal if the two can meet somewhere in the middle.
In a positive market, the seller can use the leverage of multiple bidders to get their price.
In a negative market (like we are in now), the seller is going to blink first.
I have a price in mind that I am willing to pay for a specific type of house. I haven’t put any bids in yet; a year ago I would have been laughed off the lot, today I will be politely rejected, next year I will have signing papers shoved under my nose.
z: I know your comment was directed toward me, but buyers like ME are not greedy, we have a more realistic view of what property is worth. I don’t think sellers are greedy, they are hopeful, but sooner or later they may need to be more realistic too.
maybe they’ll buy my enron stock too.
yes aussie. let’s hope the govt. intervenes to keep the housing market from finding its natural clearing price. that way we can artificially prop up the people who deserve it. especially when our govt. has enough fires to fight on its own. yeah, i bet that’s a top priority…
“As for the open houses, I think many buyers, like myself, are just waiting til the sobering new reality sinks in to NYC sellers and they adjust their asking prices to reflect this new reality. The continuing greed of certain brokers/sellers still astounds me,”
so sellers are greedy for trying to get the highest price they can, but buyers like you are *not* greedy for trying to get the lowest price they can?
Miss Muffett–no doubt people looking to buy today are looking at a completely different situation than when I went into contract, as we had our offer accepted on our house in July. Were I looking now of course I would be in the same boat as everybody else, waiting to see how far things would fall before offering.
In re stretching, I agree of course that now is not the time to try to live anywhere close to the margins of your means. We found, after many months of searching, a house that was very low for Clinton Hill (as the market existed this summer) and have managed to get ourselves into a situation where the sum total of our mortgage once the rental income is factored in is less than the amount of rent that our tenants are paying for the garden apt. So in this regard I am very lucky and grateful. We have an affordable, long term place to live and I think it was possible because we were so careful in selecting a house that fell into our price range when it didn’t seem like something like that existed in Clinton Hill.
Miss Muffett: The continuing greed of certain brokers/sellers still astounds me, especially since they can still come out of this with a net profit, but just vastly reduced expectations.
Don’t be astounded Miss Muffett. Those of us who are still holding (and intend to keep holding) would much rather see something different to you. We’d like to see the government launch a measure that directly influences housing prices to steady them or move them upward. We’d like the market go back up without dropping anymore than it already has. I guess that would mean you would miss the rise because you are out… but if that unlikely event happens, I for one promise not to lecture you every day that I am astounded that you don’t just buy at a higher price…
than you sold 😉
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