A newly married couple asked Brown Harris Stevens broker Militza Van Doren in October to help find them a two-bedroom home for less than $2 million. They quickly zeroed in on a high-floor unit at an East 85th Street tower with unobstructed views of the city and the East River, and more than 1,200 square feet. The asking price was $1.925 million, or 3.5 percent less than what the owners sought when they first listed it in September.
Meeting in the Middle
Then the negotiating began. The couple suggested an initial bid of $1.695 million, which Van Doren feared would be too low. But the sellers countered the offer, and after some back and forth, agreed to part with the property for a little more than $1.8 million. The deal, signed in November, will probably be completed next month.
“In the end, both parties were pleased,” Van Doren said. “And they wanted to meet each other. That very rarely happens.”
In the luxury market -- the priciest 10 percent of deals, defined in the quarter as $3.895 million or more -- purchases tumbled 13 percent to 252, Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman said. Inventory in the category, including resales and newly built units, climbed 13 percent, with 1,439 luxury homes listed for sale at the end of December.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.