The 20 foot wide landmark Strivers Row townhouse at 252 West 139th Street (just east of FDB/8th Avenue) took approximately two years to sell but the previous owner did not seem to be in any particular rush. With 4,480 square foot of space, 10 rooms, 3 bathrooms 6 working fireplaces, a deck and a parking garage, one would expect it to have turned around sooner, so what was the problem? The main issue was that Central Harlem townhouse was asking for almost $2.7 million two years ago when the market started declining and the property has been on and off the market with various price chops ever since. Last October, the move-in ready building appeared with the new price of $2 million, then went into contract in May, and records now show that it sold in June for a total of $1.72 million. It's not all bad news since the previous owner has had the house for the past 15 years and apparently paid $450K for it in the 90's.
The 20 foot wide landmark Strivers Row townhouse at 252 West 139th Street (just east of FDB/8th Avenue) took approximately two years to sell but the previous owner did not seem to be in any particular rush. With 4,480 square foot of space, 10 rooms, 3 bathrooms 6 working fireplaces, a deck and a parking garage, one would expect it to have turned around sooner, so what was the problem? The main issue was that Central Harlem townhouse was asking for almost $2.7 million two years ago when the market started declining and the property has been on and off the market with various price chops ever since. Last October, the move-in ready building appeared with the new price of $2 million, then went into contract in May, and records now show that it sold in June for a total of $1.72 million. It's not all bad news since the previous owner has had the house for the past 15 years and apparently paid $450K for it in the 90's.
I am so jealous !!!!!
ReplyDeleteNo, the owner wanted to sell....and more accurately, the 'problem' was Corcoran. They got with the owners and tickled their ass with a feather, promised the world, $2.7M for an exclusive, the owners bought in, signed the exclusive and of course Corcoran never delivered a buyer. The owners had no hopes of accomplishing their goal (selling) with Corcoran, had to wait out the expiration of their exclusive w/Corcoran, once expired brought in Halstead, who delivered a buyer at 15% under the target in about 4 months.
ReplyDeleteA responsible agency could have sold this place for a Half-Million more than what it sold for last month, 2 years ago (the place does have parking for 3 cars + 3 sides/walls of exposure to light, two combinations you would be hard pressed to find anywhere).
Corcoran's done a sh*tty job and disservice to Harlem. 1) they ignored Harlem forever, 2) then with gentrification determined Harlem existed, even opened up an office, 3) They blew smoke up the ass of lots of sellers to secure exclusives and very often as in the case above, never delivered as promised and bound up in exclusive properties that would have been better served by smaller or better knowleged agencies, 4) then they closed up their offices in Harlem. That's basically Corcoran in Harlem in a nutshell.
The Losers? The sellers that bought into Corcoran's pie in the sky numbers. All these agencies know the conditions in the market, and when people sign to sell, they want the property sold, period. In selling a property like this, the agency should deliver a number that can be realized in 180 days/6 months, mindful of the market going forward. Okay, you come off the number 15% as in this case and imo that's okay, I would say Halstead did a fine job here.
But I also believe Halstead could have sold this property 2 years ago when the owners wanted to sell it for about a Half Million more (due to the conditions in the market 2 years ago). The owners just picked the wrong agency, first time out the box, they got it right once they were free to fire Corcoran and relist.