CO-OP/CONDO BUYERS

If you're in the market for a broker to help you sell your co-op or condo apartment, and you think they're a dime a dozen, think again. Brickunderground.com writes that while brokers are more than used to sellers that are difficult, eccentric, or both, they keep their distance from the impossible ones. How can you put off a broker? Leigh Kamping-Carder offers seven solid reasons, among them being stubborn about the asking price, wanting to skimp on commission, and — New York City notwithstanding — "being the wrong kind of crazy." Ouch. It makes sense when you consider that time is money. If a seller's antics stall the process and keep a co-op or condo lingering on the market, the potential commission does start to lose a bit of its charm. 

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A co-op board's green initiative has brought the closing of a co-op apartment to a crashing halt just a few days before they were scheduled to seal the deal. In the latest "Ask Real Estate" column in The New York Times, the co-op apartment's seller tells Ronda Kaysen that their lawyer got a memo from the building's managing agent "saying shares could not transfer to the buyer unless [they] installed a low-flow toilet, added aerators on the faucets and installed Energy Star appliances." The seller says that while the toilet requirement was referenced in board minutes from February 2013, the Energy Star appliances were not, adding that the board did not notify any of them of these requirements in advance. Now the closing is delayed indefinitely, and they are facing thousands of dollars' worth of unexpected expenses. Kaysen explains that although the timing is pretty horrible, it's not illegal for the board to make these requests as long as it followed protocol. Some negotiating might be in order to see if the board is willing to make some concessions. 

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Back in the summer of 2013, Gerard J. Picaso, a veteran property manager of New York co-ops and condos, was having a get-acquainted meeting with a board president and treasurer who had just hired Picaso's firm. At one point the board president asked, "What happens if you and your partner get hit by a bus?"

"Depends on how big the bus is," Picaso replied.

"Let's say it's very big."

At that moment, Picaso had a revelation. "I realized my partner, Susan Axelbank, and I had a plan if something happened to one of us, but we had no plan if both of us were gone. It was really something to think about when you get to be a certain age."

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It was one hell of a year for condo sales, so much so that one group of real estate execs talked them up big time. Another group, however, said to expect the luxury market to shrink thanks to a slowdown in condo sales. Just how much of a slowdown? The New York Daily News reports that condo sales dropped 26 percent between October and November 2014, following a seasonal high in October. "Colder weather and modest price growth put a chill on condo sales activity in November. That's not a surprise as October is typically the final push for home purchases before the end of the year," StreetEasy data scientist Alan Lightfeldt told the Daily News. "But the slowdown will likely continue through all of 2015. We predict condo prices will increase at just half their 2014 pace over the next year." Lightfeld also echoed the real estate experts who spoke with DNAinfo, adding that "greater inventory will give Manhattan buyers the opportunity to be more aggressive about negotiating asking prices." Condo sales may have fizzled as the year drew to a close, presenting sellers with bad news indeed; but one seller's misfortune is another buyer's gain.

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The Salvation Army thrift shop at 176 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg was demolished last year. Talk about location, location, location. Williamsburg is pretty hot stuff and getting hotter by the second. So it doesn't come as a huge shock that the Sally has scrapped plans to build "a two-story, 10,000-square-foot building" (which were three years in the making), and opted instead to sell the prime piece of property, according to the New York Observer’s Commercial Observer. Major Charles S. Foster, the command property secretary major for the Salvation Army, confirmed to the Commercial Observer that "the site is being marketed by Steve Bodden and Jack Lerner of Sanchez Bodden Lerner." As far as buyer and price go, mum's the word. Brownstoner.com speculates that given the busy corner location, rentals would make sense, "but the market has been turning to condos lately so who knows." Looks like potential condo buyers have something to keep their eye on in the next few years.

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Remember the iPad on steroids? It's just one of the new tools in a technological arsenal that real estate developers are using to sell, sell, sell in the city. The beautiful thing about technology is that it's forever evolving. Just check out what Extell Development Company is using to sell condos in the 219-unit One Riverside Park. Holograms. They call it innovative. We call it pretty darn cool. According to The New York Times article, "the hologram presentation includes an overview of the waterfront neighborhood, a trip inside the new complex, now 85 percent sold with remaining units ranging from $3.6 to $25 million, and a dazzling display of its amenities." You can tell someone how amazing a unit is, not to mention all the awesome amenities, but it's always better to show them. In a city where it's always best to walk your talk, that just makes good sense.

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Tick tock goes the clock, the New Year is nearly here. And with an eye toward the near future, DNAinfo asked some real estate experts what we can expect from New York City's housing market in 2015. The first thing that caught our eye was the shift in focus to smaller spaces — and we're not talking just the rental market. Things are about to shrink in the luxury market as well, thanks, in part, to a "slowdown in sales for pricey new condos." The bottom line is that "feeling less urgency, wealthy buyers are becoming choosier." Hmm. Perhaps that sales slowdown is one of the reasons why another group of real estate experts earlier this month talked a lot of smack about co-ops to another publication, in an effort to generate a looooot of buzz about condos.

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A New York State law that went into effect Dec. 3, requiring all residential leases to contain a notice about the building's sprinkler system, appears to mandate that even co-op proprietary leases must be amended to reflect the language change. The new law also impacts leases offered by condominium homeowners renting their apartments as well as subleases offered by rental tenants and by co-op shareholders.

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If landing a co-op is on your list of New Year's resolutions, you'll want to check out this piece of helpful advice from Brickunderground.com. Yes, a lot of the grueling application process is made up of your financial details — to prove you can afford the place. But it's also who you know, or who knows you, rather. Recommendation letters are a huge deal, and it matters who vouches for you. Brickunderground.com explains that a letter from a doorman, who may be angling for a decent holiday tip, will probably not carry the same weight as one from an employer or from someone who lives in your building and happens to serve on the board. Good advice notwithstanding, what's really worth checking out in this item is the collection of letters from buyers who aced their applications and got their co-ops. What better sample than the real thing (with identifying details blacked out, of course)?

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When developers Peebles Corporation and El Ad Group bought the historic 14-story building at 346 Broadway from the city in May, many were afraid that time was running out for the 116-year-old landmarked clock that sits atop it. Early last week, reported DNAinfo.com, the Landmark Preservation Commission gave developers the green light to convert the building into upscale condos — which means the public landmark will become part of a private luxury condo. The good news is that developers promise to keep the clock functioning. And according to the article, the lucky duck who ends up owning the condo will be expected to keep the clock in good working order; officials will be inspecting. The catch? They will electrify the massive clock, "which for decades has been hand-wound by two retired city employees, Marvin Schneider, 75, and Forest Markowitz, 63." You can't make everybody happy all of the time — the Historic Districts Council and the Society for the Architecture of the City certainly aren't and are reportedly considering legal action — but it could be worse. Who would take over the hand-wound crank once Schneider and Markowitz aren't around anymore? At least this way, the clock carries on.

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