Upper West Side

This weekend I will be trekking to the Upper West Side for some open houses. There is one unit in particular that has caught my eye. Looking at the price and comparable prices in NYC, my first thought was that it is a steal. A small true one bedroom for the low low price of 329K. It is less than a block from Central Park and is on 101st street. The listing is in the NYTimes here.

I tried to figure out what was wrong with the building or neighborhood or particular unit during the course of today. Was the unit in a bad neighborhood? No, how could it be a bad neighborhood less than a block from Central Park in this day and age on the Upper West Side. I will do a walkabout before the open house just to assuage my concerns. Was the building infested with vermin? I will try to find out over the weekend during the open house. Make sure to ask the broker about bed bugs or roaches or rats. Lastly are there dead bodies still in the unit? That will definately be something I will keep a keen eye on and look for any blood splatter on the walls or in the drains.

When I got home tonight I decided to do some research on the apartment and the building. The first site I went to was Propertyshark which you can use after you register for free. It will allow you to get a more in-depth look at the building and will usually contain sales for units in the building for the last couple of years. It is a terrific website to virtually stalk an apartment building and can give great insight into how much the units should cost. Seeing the price appreciation also helps to find a trend though I think the trend should now be pointing to flat or even down.

Another very good site I found over the summer is this one from NYC. This site will allow you to search for an apartment sold within the last 4 or 5 years in NYC. It may not always be completely accurate or comprehensive, but it does a very good job in my opinion. A very scary job if truth be told. Anyway, I looked for the apartment I will be looking at this weekend and found it in the 2004 Manhattan link. This particular unit was sold in early 2004 for 155K. You read that right. Just less than 4 years ago, the unit was sold for 155K! Not sure why it was so low back then. Or why it was so low relative to the rest of the Upper West Side real estate market. But the owner is now trying to make more than twice what they paid for it just less than 4 years ago. The gall! The nerve! The lucky son of a bitch!

On a side note, I just want to point out that I have been brain washed by the realtors and brokers who keep pushing up prices during this real estate boom. To think that a small one bedroom apartment can be cheap for 329K can only be a sign of a weak weak mind. And I confess that I have a weak weak mind.