(Photo: Jack Louth)

NO. 1: THE HOPEFUL SELLERS
Kip Lenoir, a real-estate attorney, and his two brothers, Michael and Barry, a doctor and lawyer, respectively, are ready to sell the family home, a twenty-foot-wide four-level with a private backyard on a landmark block in Harlem near Mount Morris Park. They have been seeking a bid of about $2.5 million since March. So far, the offers have been closer to $2 million, but Kip and his brothers aren’t ready to drop their price.

“We thought our asking price was reasonable, but we haven’t had any offers yet that we feel are sufficient. We’ve seen the condominiums being gobbled up in this neighborhood—three-bedroom condos going for $2.5 million—so we’re looking in that range. If the offers are not forthcoming, we still have the option of renting the house out. The rental market is very strong. But we’ll give it another five or six months before we go that route. Some buyers probably fell off the market with the mortgage crisis, we understand that, but we’re still confident. For this particular property, we’re not concerned with the subprime market—the buyer for this sort of property probably isn’t going that route. Some areas are prime, and we just happen to be in one, quite frankly, so we’re not getting jittery. Sorry, am I the only optimistic one out there?”