1255 Fifth Avenue, Apartment 3CDE
Three-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 3,042-square-foot prewar condo with 108-square-foot terrace.
Asking Price: $3.385 million.
Charges and Taxes: $2,908 per month.
Our assessments: $3.325 million to $3.45 million.
This slickly finished loft with tree-line views of Central Park was knitted together from three apartments, giving it what one of our panelists called a “downtown uptown” feel. But it was anomalous in an area that lured buyers for its traditional prewars. And it was far up on Fifth Avenue. Besides, our brokers thought it was priced at least $50,000 too high.
Did it sell? No. The larger portion of the apartment is available for rent at $6,900 a month. The other (walled off) has a tenant.
Time on market: On and off since May 2005, during which time it changed brokers.
32 West 40th Street, Apartment 8D
One-bedroom, one-bath, 725-square-foot co-op.
Asking Price: $679,000.
Maintenance: $1,209 per month.
Our assessments: $595,000 to $650,000.
The co-op was perfectly charming, our panelists concurred, but it was the architecturally magnificent building in which it was located—the former Engineer’s Club, built for Andrew Carnegie—that made it memorable. Still, one broker moaned over the too-high maintenance; another wondered about the dark bedroom. And they all thought the asking price should’ve been at least $20,000 lower.
Did it sell? Yes, for $669,000.
Time on market: One year.
188 East 78th Street, Apartment 7AB
Four-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath, 3,732-square-foot condo with 2,231-square-foot terrace.
Asking Price: $7.495 million.
Charges and Taxes: $6,024.
Our Assessments: $7.2 million to $7.495 million.
For the most part, panelists swooned over this space, a 1999 condo with grand prewar proportions. One broker even predicted a quick sale. And although it wasn’t precisely on the Upper East Side’s Gold Coast, it was priced that way.
Did it sell? Yes, but way below its 24-karat asking price. It went for $5.5 million.
Time on market: About seven months.
60 Broadway, Apartment 5Q, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
One-bedroom, two-bath, 1,755-square-foot condo.
Asking Price: $1.25 million.
Charges and taxes: $608.
Our assessments: $995,000 to $1.1 million.
This condo had enough square footage for three bedrooms, yet it had only one. And our panelists thought its brokers were way too ambitious in their pricing, even in the Gretsch, the building that essentially ushered in all the luxe development in Williamsburg.
Did it sell? Yes, but only after the owner ditched the broker and sold it himself—for less than $1.05 million.
Time on market: Four months.
455 Central Park West, Apartment 20A
Three-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 2,083-square-foot condo.
Asking Price: $2.69 million.
Charges and Taxes: $2,031 per month.
Our assessments: $2.1 million to $2.395 million.
Views, space, light—what’s not to like? Our panel said its kitchen appliances weren’t chic enough, the layout “a little challenging,” and location too far up (at 105th Street) to fetch the asking price.
Did it sell? No. The owners found a tenant last January, and it continued to be available for sale until this August, when it was de-listed.
Time on market: Thirteen months.